DMK will strongly oppose Delhi ordinance, says M K Stalin after meeting Arvind Kejriwal

“This is like a semi-final for the 2024 polls. If this bill is defeated in the Rajya Sabha, a very strong message will go out all across the country that the entire Opposition has come together and maybe in 2024, the Modi government is not going to come back,” Kejriwal said.

Kejriwal said he was also confident that the Congress would support him and that the nitty-gritty would be worked out during a meeting of all Opposition leaders.

For his part, Stalin called Kejriwal a “good friend” and said the Union government had been continuously targeting the latter’s party and hampering the functioning of the elected government in Delhi.

“The DMK will definitely oppose the ordinance by the Union government and there are no second thoughts about it. I spoke with both the chief ministers. Through this meeting, I request all the chief ministers of the other states and other leaders of parties to extend their support against the Centre’s decision,” he said addressing the media along with Kejriwal and Mann.

Stalin said he and the AAP leaders also discussed other issues of national politics as well. To a question on Opposition unity, the DMK leader said such consolidation was required to save democracy and that it should continue beyond the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Kejriwal said he was very grateful for the warm and affectionate reception. “After eight long years of struggle in the courts, the people of Delhi won the battle in the Supreme Court. On 11th May, the SC passed a very revolutionary order in favour of the people of Delhi. The SC said there is an elected government in Delhi… and that too with a thumping majority and it should have all the powers to run the government. If the elected government does not have any control over the bureaucrats and services, then it is not possible to run the government. So the SC said the services and bureaucrats will be controlled directly by the elected government,” he said.

Kejriwal said that however, within a week and as soon as the apex court went on vacation, the BJP-led government passed an ordinance nullifying the court order, adding that it was the first such incident in the country’s history. “Now, the elected government has no control over the bureaucracy and services. This is unconstitutional; undemocratic…The ordinance will come in the monsoon session of Parliament. The BJP has complete majority in the Lok Sabha but in the Rajya Sabha, they have only 93 members out of the 238. If all non-BJP parties come together, we can defeat this bill in Parliament,” he said.

Stalin also said that he met Kejriwal whenever he visited Delhi. He recollected how he was impressed by the schools run by the AAP government in Delhi and how he wanted to replicate the model in Chennai. He also recollected that Kejriwal had launched the DMK government’s flagship Pudhumai Penn scheme, which offers monthly assistance of Rs 1,000 to girl students who studied from Class 5 to Class 12 in state government schools till they complete undergraduate or diploma courses.