Kejriwal’s appeal for support a ploy to seek sympathy, says Congress’s Ajay Maken

The Delhi Congress’s call for a dismissal of the AAP government came a day after the Centre promulgated an ordinance which, in effect, overturned the judgment of the Supreme Court granting it control over the bureaucracy in the state, last week.

“The Kejriwal government has created a chaotic and unsettling situation, and in such an atmosphere, it was difficult for officials to carry out their duty with honesty and sincerity. President’s rule should be imposed in Delhi after sacking the Kejriwal government so that development and welfare work, which has been held up for the past nine years, can start,” Delhi Congress chief Chaudhary Anil Kumar said.

On Friday, minutes before the ordinance was issued, Congress had termed “shocking” and “illogical” a dharna staged by AAP ministers outside L-G VK Saxena’s residence over the issue of non-clearance of a file seeking the removal of the Services Secretary.

Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Ajay Maken alleged that the AAP convenor reaching out to opposition leaders and appealing for support in the Rajya Sabha was a ploy to “seek sympathy.”

“Arvind Kejriwal should first clarify his stand on three issues which also played out in the same Rajya Sabha where he is asking the opposition to rally around him regarding the ordinance,” Maken said.

“What about removal of Article 370 from Jammu & Kashmir by the BJP-led Centre, which he supported; not signing the impeachment motion introduced by the Congress against Dipak Misra; and not signing the no-confidence motion against the Deputy Chairperson of the RS following that,” he added.

In April 2018, seven opposition parties had submitted a notice for a motion of impeachment against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra alleging various lapses against him to then-vice president and RS Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu; but he had refused to admit the notice of the motion. A no-confidence motion by the opposition against RS Deputy Chairman Harivansh Singh following the passage of the contentious farm laws, which were later recalled, had been moved in September 2020.

“As far as I understand, this too is a ploy by Kejriwal to gain sympathy; this type of an amendment does not require 2/3rd majority but a simple majority in both Houses of Parliament. Why doesn’t he repose his faith in the Supreme Court?” Maken asked.

AAP’s consistent attacks against Congress in states where it has gone head to head against it electorally has meant that their relationship is far from warm. Delhi Congress has also received a drubbing from AAP in three assembly and one municipal poll since 2013.