Congress takes U-turn; Says will not support Centre's ordinance in Parliament

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Congress on Sunday made it clear that it will not support the Centre's ordinance on the control of administrative services in Delhi and will oppose any such attempt of the central government to «sabotage federalism» in the country. Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said the party's stand is clear as it will oppose any such move by the Centre to intervene in states ruled by opposition parties through the governors and has decided to oppose the Delhi ordinance in Parliament whenever a bill comes up. «We are consistently opposing the attempts of the Union government to sabotage federalism.

We are consistently opposing the attitude of the central government to run the opposition states through the governors. Our stand is very clear, we are not going to support the Delhi ordinance,» he told PTI. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said the Congress' «unequivocal opposition» to the Delhi ordinance was «a positive development».

AAP MP and national spokesperson Raghav Chadha tweeted, «Congress announces its unequivocal opposition to the Delhi Ordinance. This is a positive development.» Venugopal said the Congress usually convenes its parliamentary strategy committee meeting just before a session to decide on important matters coming up in Parliament. «Yesterday, we had a meeting and we already made the decision,» he said, when asked whether the Congress will support or oppose the Delhi ordinance.

«Not only the Delhi ordinance, any attempt to sabotage the federal system of the country and intervene in the state matters by using the Governor, we are not going to support. The same way, on the Delhi ordinance also, we are not going to support. It is very clear,» he said.