Congress invites AAP to Bengaluru Opposition meeting, Kejriwal and co. still adamant on ordinance issue

The June 23 meeting had run into rough weather after a war of words between Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Kejriwal over the ordinance issue.

Congress has extended an invite to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for the second meeting of Opposition parties in Bengaluru later this month, but the AAP on Friday said its decision would be based on advance announcement of the party’s stand on the contentious ordinance that restricts control of Delhi government’s control over bureaucrats.

Senior AAP MP Raghav Chadha confirmed the invite to the AAP for the Bengaluru meet on July 17-18 but he reminded the party’s stand and Congress “assurance” on announcing its stand “at least 15 days before the Parliament’s Monsoon Session”.

“One will have to look back to the Patna Opposition meeting when its leaders said that the Congress will announce its stand much before the Parliament Session, 15 days before the session. All conversations (on attending) will happen subsequent to their announcement opposing the ordinance,” Chadha said.

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He claimed that Congress leaders told the meeting on June 23 that they would announce their opposition to the ordinance and they hope that they will do it soon.

The June 23 meeting had run into rough weather after a war of words between Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Kejriwal over the issue.

Kejriwal wanted the Congress to announce its stand against the ordinance during the press conference after the Patna meeting but the Congress said they were not willing to do so. However, Kharge told Kejriwal and other leaders that the party cannot support the ordinance and would announce it in Patna, as they would have to go through internal party process.

Soon after the meeting, AAP issued a statement saying it would not be part of any Opposition meeting or alliance where the Congress is present, as the latter was not willing to announce its stand.