Any alliance with Congress 'very difficult' until it agrees to oppose Centre's Delhi ordinance: AAP
New Delhi, Jun 23: The AAP on Friday said any alliance with the Congress will be "very difficult" after its war of words with the grand old party over the contentious Delhi ordinance issue, at an opposition unity meeting in Bihar.
At the opposition meet in Patna, many parties urged the Congress to publicly denounce the "black ordinance", but the grand old party refused to do so which raises suspicions about its "real intentions", the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said in a statement soon after the meeting.
"The Congress' hesitation and refusal to act as a team player, especially on an issue as important as this one, will make it very difficult for the AAP to be a part of any alliance that includes the Congress," the AAP said.
"Until the Congress publicly denounces the black ordinance and declares that all 31 of its RS MPs will oppose the ordinance in the Rajya Sabha, it will be difficult for the AAP to participate in future meetings of like-minded parties where the Congress is a participant," it added.
The AAP's stance comes on a day when leaders from 17 opposition parties, including party supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, met in Patna and "decided to work together and contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections unitedly" by setting aside their differences.
Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP's Rajya Sabha MPs Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chaddh attended the meeting, but remained conspicuous by their absence at the joint press conference held by the opposition parties later.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took a potshot at the absence of Kejriwal at the opposition parties' joint press conference in Patna and said the AAP's "blackmailing" at the beginning of the meeting itself showed the future of the "unholy alliance".
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, however, said a decision on whether to oppose the Centre's ordinance on the control of administrative services in Delhi will be taken before the Parliament session and wondered why it is being talked about elsewhere when the matter pertains to Parliament.
"The Congress, a national party that takes a stand on almost all issues, is yet to make its position on the black ordinance public. However, the Congress' Delhi and Punjab units have announced that the party should support the Narendra Modi government on this issue," the AAP said in a statement.
"Today, during the (meeting of) like-minded parties... in Patna, many parties urged the Congress to publicly denounce the black ordinance. However, the Congress refused to do so," it said.
The AAP termed the ordinance "anti-constitutional and outright undemocratic", and said it seeks to reverse the Supreme Court's judgment which held that the Delhi government has control over the administrative services.
The Centre's ordinance is "an affront to the judiciary," the party said.
It is high time the Congress decides whether it is standing with the people of Delhi or the Modi government, it added.
"In personal discussions, senior Congress leaders have hinted that their party might informally or formally abstain from voting on it in the Rajya Sabha," it charged.
"The Congress' abstention from voting on this issue will help the BJP immensely in furthering its attack on Indian democracy. If left unchallenged, this dangerous trend could spread to all other states, resulting in the usurpation of power from democratically elected state governments. It is crucial to defeat this black ordinance," it said.
Except the Congress, all other 11 parties which have representation in the Rajya Sabha have clearly expressed their stand against the "black ordinance" and announced that they would oppose it in the Upper House, the party added.
The Centre had on May 19 promulgated an ordinance to create an authority for the transfer and posting of Group-A officers in Delhi, a week after the apex court handed over the control of services in the national capital, excluding police, public order and land, to the elected government.
Following the ordinance, Kejriwal has been reaching out to leaders of non-BJP parties to garner their support against the ordinance so that the Centre's bid to replace it through a bill is defeated when it is brought in Parliament.
AAP chief spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar told PTI, "We have received information from reliable sources that Rahul Gandhi and the BJP have reached an agreement that the Congress will stand by the saffron party on the issue of this illegal ordinance."
"The Congress should make it clear whether it is standing with the Constitution or the BJP," she said.
The Centre's ordinance seeks to set up a National Capital Civil Service Authority for the transfer of and disciplinary proceedings against Group-A officers from the DANICS cadre.
Transfer and postings of all officers of the Delhi government were under the executive control of the lieutenant governor before the May 11 verdict of the apex court.
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Wine Merchants’ Association alleges corruption in excise dept, Minister Thimmapur refutes charge
Bengaluru, Nov 5: The Karnataka Wine Merchants’ Association has alleged that the Excise Minister R B Thimmapur’s office has collected Rs 16 crore from various excise department officers by transferring them in and around Bengaluru.
While the Minister refuted the allegation, the opposition BJP got new ammunition to target the ruling Congress.
In a letter to the Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, Chief Secretary and the Karnataka Lokayukta, the Association alleged that the Minister's office is involved in rampant corruption.
“Huge bribes and money laundering took place in the excise minister office in Bengaluru in transferring excise officers and to control illegal collection of money for election purposes from excise officials,” the letter sent by mail read.
Explaining further, the Association said about Rs 16 crore has been collected on a single day from three deputy commissioners of excise, nine excise superintendents, 13 deputy superintendents of excise and 20 excise inspectors “for transferring in and around Bengaluru from past 2 to 3.5 years, as their tenure was getting completed within a month.”
Naming a deputy commissioner, the letter said the officer was collecting money somewhere between Rs 25 lakh to Rs 40 lakh from each officer for transferring them.
The Association said Rs 2.5 crore to Rs three crore was collected from deputy commissioners (excise) working in Bengaluru.
The association has demanded action against those involved "in this corruption."
“No such thing has happened. You must ask them why they went to pay money. Why would anyone pay if everything is correct?” Thimmapur told reporters at Shiggaon in Haveri district.
He also assured to take action against officers if they have collected money.
“The matter is that when these people (wine merchants) do something wrong then they (officers) harass them. The wine merchants should rectify themselves,” the Minister said.
The Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, R Ashoka alleged that there was a Rs 700 crore liquor scam in the state.
“The Karnataka Wine Merchants’ Association in its letter to CM @Siddaramaiah has alleged that State Excise Minister R B Timmapur is involved in blatant extortion and bribery, unfolding another dark episode of the series of scams by 'SCAM'gress Govt in Karnataka,” he said in a post on ‘X’.
He said the Association has alleged that CL7 bar licences were given after collecting a bribe amount of anywhere between Rs 30 lakh to Rs 70 lakh each by the Minister.
In the last one year, 1,000 such illegal licences were given by the excise minister, amounting to Rs 300 crore to Rs 700 crore in corruption, Ashoka alleged.
“After the Maharshi Valmiki ST Development Corporation Scam, MUDA land scam, KIADB land scam, Waqf Scam, this Liquor scam is yet another fresh addition to the series of scams by CM Siddaramaiah led Congress Government in the last 17 months,” the BJP leader alleged.
