Wednesday, September 30, 2015

At Conclave of Chief Ministers, Only Mamata Shares Stage With Kejriwal

At Conclave of Chief Ministers, Only Mamata Shares Stage With Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at the Centre-State Conclave.



New Delhi:  Two chief ministers attended, three sent letters of support. One just sent regrets. In the end, only West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee shared stage with Arvind Kejriwal at his conclave of chief ministers in the national capital today.

Manik Sarkar, Tripura Chief Minister sat through discussions but did not stay for the speeches.  


Mr Kejriwal, in the middle of a protracted turf battle with Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, accused the BJP-led NDA government of not allocating funds to states and of “arm-twisting” them by “misusing” agencies like the Central Bureau of investigation or CBI.


He alleged Lt Governor Jung is acting like “an agent” of the Centre by “declaring 30 orders of the Aam Admi Party government null and void”.

Ms Banerjee concurred and offered support. “They send the CBI to chief ministers’ homes to arrest them, can the chief minister order a raid at the Prime Minister’s house?” she said.


The Bengal CM also said, “Declaring orders null and void is not good… What is happening in Delhi and other states is not co-operative federalism. It is a danger.” The Centre, she said, was running a parallel government through Governors.


Together they pitched for the supremacy of elected governments, demanding complete de-centralisation. “States will have to be given more power, rising above party politics,” said Mr Kejriwal.


The conclave was to have served as a coming together of chief ministers of states not ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party or its allies against the Centre. Mr Kejriwal had also invited Congress CMs, but none attended.


The chief ministers of Mizoram and Pudducherry sent letters of support. So did Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who has in recent days shared a relationship of mutual admiration and support with Mr Kejriwal.  Mr Kumar is busy campaigning for elections in Bihar next month.


Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav sent word he would not attend the conclave.


Mr Kejriwal admitted he should have checked on the availability of the chief ministers before deciding on the date of the conclave.


 


No comments:

Post a Comment