Opposition's meet
Patna meet: AAP says Congress refuses to act as 'team player' on Delhi ordinance, alliance difficult
New Delhi: Even as the Opposition parties held a press conference projecting unity after the 16 anti-BJP parties meeting in Patna, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) dropped a bombshell right after saying it will not be part of any future gatherings that include the Congress until the grand old party publicly opposes the Centre's contentious ordinance on the control of administrative services in Delhi.
A statement issued by AAP said, "Congress' hesitation and refusal to act as a team player, especially on an issue as important as this one, will make it very difficult for the AAP to be a part of any alliance that includes Congress."
"Until the Congress publicly denounces the Black Ordinance and declares that all 31 of its RS MPs will oppose the ordinance in the Rajya Sabha, it will be difficult for AAP to participate in future meetings of like-minded parties where the Congress is a participant," the statement added.
The AAP's commitment towards opposition unity was speculated to be conspicuous after its supremo Arvind Kejriwal was absent at the press conference.
Later the party said the Congress needs to decide whether it is with the people of Delhi or the Modi government. It added that, in personal discussions, senior Congress leaders have hinted that their party might informally or formally abstain from voting on the ordinance in the Rajya Sabha.
"Congress' silence raises suspicions about its real intentions... The Congress' abstention from voting on this issue will help the BJP immensely in furthering its attack on Indian democracy," the statement said.
Meanwhile, fifteen non-BJP political parties, who met in Patna on Friday, claimed they have arrived at a consensus to contest the coming Lok Sabha polls together to defeat the saffron party, whose rule according to them "was not in the interest of the people of India".
Accusing the BJP-led government at the Centre of "continuing to trample the democratic spirit envisaged in the country's Constitution", they said the next round of deliberations would be held tentatively on July 12 in Shimla.
The Patna meet brought together several rival parties like the AAP, and Congress as well as the Trinamool Congress, and the CPIM.
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