"Now is time to fight...": Sharad Pawar's NCP to support Kejriwal on ordinance row

Pawar said the ordinance spells a threat to parliamentary democracy. "It is our duty to ensure that all non-BJP parties support Arvind Kejriwal. Now is time to fight for the survival of parliamentary democracy," the NCP supremo said.

Mumbai (Maharashtra): Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday met Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar here to garner support for the AAP's fight against the Centre's ordinance. After the meeting, Kejriwal said that NCP will support his party to defeat the bill replacing the ordinance on control of services in the national capital.

Speaking on the occasion, Pawar said the ordinance spells a threat to parliamentary democracy. "It is our duty to ensure that all non-BJP parties support Arvind Kejriwal. Now is time to fight for the survival of parliamentary democracy," the NCP supremo said.

Kejriwal thanked Pawar for backing AAP's fight against Centre's ordinance on control of services. Kejriwal, who is on a two-day visit to Mumbai, was accompanied by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann during his meeting with Pawar at Y B Chavan Centre in south Mumbai.

The top AAP leader on Wednesday met former Maharashtra chief minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray at the latter's Bandra residence to seek support over the ordinance issue. On Tuesday, Kejriwal and Mann met their West Bengal peer Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata as part of their nationwide tour to garner support for the AAP's fight against the Centre's ordinance.

The Centre last Friday promulgated an ordinance to create an authority for the transfer and posting of Group-A officers in Delhi, with the AAP government calling the move a deception with the Supreme Court verdict on control of services.

The ordinance, which comes a week after the Supreme Court handed over the control of services in Delhi excluding police, public order and land to the elected government, seeks to set up a National Capital Civil Service Authority for transfer of and disciplinary proceedings against Group-A officers from the DANICS cadre. Transfer and postings of all officers of the Delhi government were under the executive control of the lieutenant governor before the May 11 verdict of the apex court.

The ordinance was brought to amend the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991 and it circumvents the Supreme Court judgement in the Centre vs Delhi case. Earlier, CM Kejriwal met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata on Tuesday and sought her support against the ordinance.