Following Aam Admi Party's threat to walk out of the Opposition meeting in Patna on Thursday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said today that the decision on whether to oppose the Centre's ordinance on the control of administrative services in Delhi would be taken before the Parliament session.
What did Kharge say?
Before leaving for the Opposition meet in Patna this morning, Kharge said his party would take a decision on it before Parliament's Monsoon session.
He also wondered why it was being talked about elsewhere when it was a matter that pertains to Parliament.
"Opposing it or proposing it does not happen outside, it happens in Parliament. Before Parliament begins, all parties decide what issues they have to work on together. They (AAP) know it and even their leaders come to our all-party meetings. I don't know why there is so much publicity about it outside," Kharge said.
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"About 18-20 parties decide together on what to oppose and what to accept. So instead of saying anything now, we will take a decision before Parliament begins," he said.
What did AAP say?
"The AAP will stage a walkout of the meeting if the Congress does not promise its support against the ordinance," one of the party sources had said.
On Tuesday, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal had expressed hope that the Congress would clear its stand on the Centre's ordinance on the control of administrative services in the national capital during the Opposition party meet in Patna.
Congress has so far kept its stand ambiguous as to whether it would support the AAP or not when the ordinance is put to test in Parliament by the BJP-led Centre.
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About the Opposition meeting
Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar called the Opposition meeting in a bid to chalk out a joint strategy to take on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Congress leaders Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, her Delhi counterpart Kejriwal, Punjab's Bhagwant Mann, Tamil Nadu's M K Stalin, Jharkhand's Hemant Soren, Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav, Maharashtra's former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, and NCP president Sharad Pawar are among the leaders expected to attend it.
Leaders of the PDP, CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML) and the National Conference will also attend the first high-level opposition meeting.
