AIMIM not to support Kejriwal in fight against central ordinance on services in Delhi, says Owaisi

Hyderabad: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday said he would not support Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in his fight against the Centre's ordinance on control of services in Delhi as the AAP chief follows "real Hindutva".

The AIMIM chief slammed Kejriwal and the parties that supported the BJP during the abrogation of Article 370 back in 2019 alleging that they lack political consistency resulting in BJP benefitting from "your inconsistencies".

"I can never support Kejriwal...I know Kejriwal...he follows real Hindutva and not just soft Hindutva," the Hyderabad MP, told reporters when asked if he would extend support to Kejriwal in his fight against the central ordinance.

The bone of contention between the AAP government and the BJP has been the central government ordinance setting up a National Capital Civil Service Authority which overturned a Supreme Court order recently giving control of services, excluding those related to police, public order, and land, to the elected government in Delhi.

The new ordinance takes away these powers from the Delhi state government and gives them to a committee that would be effectively controlled by the Centre. A central law has to be brought to replace the ordinance and opposition parties are hoping to stall that in the upper house or Rajya Sabha when it comes up for debate.

The AAP has already sought the support of all non-BJP parties saying this is a "time for 'agni pariksha' (trial by fire)" for opposition parties, and that they should come together if they want to save the country's democracy and Constitution.

Kejriwal as part of a nationwide tour to garner support for his fight against the Central ordinance on control of services in Delhi, had on May 27 met Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao here and the latter extended full support to AAP.

Reacting to a query on his views on the issue, Owaisi said: "Why did Kejriwal support (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi when Article 370 was abrogated? Didn't he realise that one state was made into three UTs? He (Kejriwal) tried to show he is the biggest Hindu. When Article 370 was scrapped, he supported the BJP. Why did Kejriwal support the BJP on Article 370?"

The AIMIM chief sought to know what the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) will tell Afghanistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh on the 'Akhand Bharat' mural of India's new Parliament building depicting the influence of ancient Indian thought in its immediate neighbourhood.

"Now that the 'Akhand Bharat' mural has been put up in the new Parliament, the BJP should tell when are you taking Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. When are you taking PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir)? When you put up 'Akhand Bharat', you should reply on what you are doing towards it. The MEA has to answer on this," Owaisi said.

The mural in the new Parliament building, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 28, marks important kingdoms and cities of the past, and shows the influence of ancient India in the then Taxila, in present-day Pakistan.

Reacting to another query, Owaisi reiterated that he would discuss with party leaders and then a decision will be taken on how many Assembly seats AIMIM would contest in the upcoming Assembly elections in Telangana (scheduled later in the year).

Inputs from PTI