AAP threatens to skip Opposition meet if Congress doesn't assure support against Centre's ordinance

The Opposition exercise is seen as a parallel to a call for unity from the Bihar capital 48 years ago that led to the Emergency and subsequent fall of Indira Gandhi.

AAP appears to be putting a spanner on the Opposition meeting here on Friday by threatening to walk out from the deliberations if Congress refuses to promise it's against the Centre's ordinance on the control of administrative services in Delhi.

AAP sources said party supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is likely to put this condition in the meeting, as the Congress so far has not committed its support owing to the pushback from its Delhi and Punjab units.

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However, a senior Congress leader involved with organising the Opposition meeting told DH that if they put conditions, it would create difficulties and they would be solely responsible.

Sandeep Dikshit, a former MP who is a staunch critic of AAP and Kejriwal said it was expected and they knew he would be looking for excuses to break Opposition unity and not attend the meeting. “There is a saying that whether you go or not, it will not make a difference,” he added.

Sources said senior leaders like Mamata Banerjee and Sharad Pawar may be roped in to cool the tempers, as this is the first meeting and no one wants negative optics.

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AAP sources said they are prepared to face allegations of being labelled "pro-BJP" while fighting Congress' "duplicity". AAP is upset that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and top leader Rahul Gandhi have so far refused to meet Kejriwal to put his point on the controversial ordinance.

For the past couple of days, AAP has been raising the decibel levels on Congress’ ambivalence on ordinance issues as well as its role in Opposition.

Kejriwal first asked other parties to force Congress to make its stand clear, which was followed by a letter to Opposition leaders to discuss the issue as the first agenda of the meeting. He had also met chiefs of at least ten parties in the past one month.

AAP leader and Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj also took on the Congress saying AAP could decide not to fight Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh if it would not field candidates in Delhi and Punjab.

There has been bonhomie between Congress and AAP for the past couple of months. Kejriwal did not campaign in Karnataka, unlike he did in Gujarat and Goa earlier and damaging Congress prospects. AAP also supported Congress when Rahul Gandhi was convicted in a defamation case and subsequently disqualified from Rajya Sabha.

Congress also reciprocated by Kharge calling Kejriwal and offering solidarity when the CBI summoned him for questioning in the Delhi liquor scam case.