Congress announces 'unequivocal opposition' to Delhi Ordinance, AAP reacts

The AAP and Congress have decided to bury the hatchet ahead of Opposition meeting in Bengaluru. The Congress has said it won't support the Delhi ordinance.  This comes as a big support for Arvind Kejriwal's party, which had threatened to boycott the key Opposition meeting scheduled to be held tomorrow aimed at forging an alliance to take on the ruling BJP ahead of the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

A day before the big Opposition meeting to be held in Bengaluru, Congress has extended its support to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over the Delhi ordinance issue. The Congress general secretary, KC Venugopal, declared on Sunday, "We aren't going to support it (the Centre's ordinance)." "I believe the AAP will attend the meeting tomorrow. Our position is quite clear with regard to the ordinance (on control of services in Delhi). We won't be endorsing it," he continued.

"We continually oppose the Union government's initiatives to undermine federalism. We have repeatedly opposed the central government's approach of using governors to control the Opposition states. We are not going to endorse the Delhi ordinance, and that is our very clear position," he told PTI.

Congress' support for the party was also verified by AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha, who called it a "positive development." “Congress announces its unequivocal opposition to the Delhi Ordinance. This is a positive development," the AAP leader tweeted.

The first opposition gathering was held in Patna on June 23, and a key cause of contention was the Congress party's ambiguous position on the Delhi ordinance issue. The Grand Old Party was criticised by the AAP for refusing to back the Delhi government on the subject of the ordinance. The AAP has stated in a statement that joining any coalition with the Congress would be extremely challenging due to the Congress' hesitancy and unwillingness to work as a team.

Leaders of at least 24 non-BJP-aligned political parties are likely to attend the second opposition meeting in Bengaluru on July 17-18. According to reports, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, who was absent during the Patna get-together, will also attend the Opposition Parties meeting being convened by Congress this time.