Arvind Kejriwal to meet Uddhav Thackeray over Centre's ordinance on Delhi Services

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann arrived in Mumbai on Tuesday. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, who are on a nationwide tour to drum up support from like-minded opposition parties against the Centre's ordinance on control of services in the national capital, are set to meet Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray at his residence.

Later on Thursday, Kejriwal will also meet Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar at Yashwantrao Chavan Centre located opposite the state administrative headquarters in Mumbai. In his Maharashtra visit, Kejriwal is accompanied by Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, AAP MPs Raghav Chaddha, and Sanjay Singh along with Delhi's Education Minister Atishi. 

Earlier on Tuesday, the AAP leaders also met with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata. After their meeting, Mamata held a joint press conference and extended support to the AAP leaders in their fight against the Centre's ordinance on control of services in the national capital.

Banerjee urged all the political parties to not vote for laws brought by the BJP

"Central Government will rule all the states, through Governors, ordinances and letters... I request all opposition parties that if you are willing to work together, don't let a single vote go to the BJP, I want everyone to vote for non-BJP parties against such an ordinance."

Following her comments in AAP's favour, Kejriwal thanked Mamata 'Didi' for backing his party in Rajya Sabha. "I believe if this Bill (Centre's ordinance on control of services in Delhi) is stopped in Rajya Sabha, then this will be a semi-final for 2024 (Lok Sabha elections)," Kejriwal asserted. 

AAP vs Centre on the ordinance 

The Centre last week submitted an order designating the Lieutenant Governor as the last arbiter in the matter, days after the Supreme Court decided that the Delhi government has administrative jurisdiction over "services," including the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).

An order has been formed by the "National Capital Service Authority" to advise the Delhi Lieutenant Governor on issues relating to transfer posting, vigilance, and other incidental matters.

The Chief Minister, Chief Secretary, and Home Secretary of the Delhi government will make up the group. The directive stated that the Lieutenant Governor's decision would be final if there was a dispute of opinion.