Arvind Kejriwal meets NCP chief Sharad Pawar to muster support against Centre’s ordinance

Mumbai,May 25:  A day after meeting Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal met Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar at the Yashwantrao Chavan Centre in Mumbai on Thursday.

Punjab CM and Aam Aadmi Party leader Bhagwant Mann accompanied him. Other party leaders, including Atishi and Raghav Chadha, also met the NCP chief.

Arvind Kejriwal arrived in Mumbai on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday, they met Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray at the latter’s residence.

The meetings are a part of the leader’s nationwide tour to garner support for the AAP’s fight against the Centre’s ordinance.

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Speaking to the media after meeting Thackeray, CM Kejriwal claimed the ordinance means the Narendra Modi government does not believe in the Supreme Court. He also alleged that the Centre is using central agencies like the CBI and ED to topple the state governments.

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

The ordinance came a week after the Supreme Court handed over control of services in Delhi, excluding police, public order and land, to the elected government. It seeks to set up a National Capital Civil Service Authority for transfer of and disciplinary proceedings against Group-A officers from the DANICS cadre.

Uddhav Thackeray also backed Kejriwal and said the Supreme Court’s order was important for democracy. “We have come together to defeat those against democracy. If we miss the train this time, then there will be no democracy in the country. We have come together to save the country and the Constitution,” Thackeray said after the meeting.

Before flying to Mumbai on Tuesday, Kejriwal and Mann met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata.

-PTI