A poster of Arvind Kejriwal in Bengaluru on the eve of the opposition meeting
The Aam Aadmi Party will attend a key opposition meeting tomorrow in Karnataka's Bengaluru to decide on a united strategy to fight against the BJP in the national election next year.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) confirmed its Bengaluru attendance today after a meeting of its key political committee and hours after the Congress came out in support of the AAP's campaign against a contentious central order that wrested back control of Delhi's bureaucracy.
"The AAP's political affairs committee meeting was held today. Every aspect was discussed in detail and after the meeting was over, I can clearly say this - the ordinance is clearly anti-national," AAP MP Raghav Chadha said.
"From Trinamool Congress to the RJD, JD(U), NCP, Samajwadi Party, Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena, all have raised their voice against this anti-national ordinance. We will make every possible effort to defeat it," Mr Raghav said, indicating the AAP's decision to attend the opposition meet in Bengaluru was driven by the need for a stronger pushback against the ordinance.
Following the first opposition conclave in Bihar's capital Patna on June 23 - a meet-and-greet for the country's splintered opposition parties to try and rally together against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP in next year's national election - the AAP had sharply criticised the Congress.
After a marathon outreach by Delhi Chief Minister and AAP boss Arvind Kejriwal, nearly all opposition parties, except the Congress, had pledged to help his party block the move in parliament.
The Congress's change of heart came today when it expressed support to the AAP against the controversial ordinance.
Mr Chadha welcomed the Congress's support as a "positive development". "Congress announces its unequivocal opposition to the Delhi ordinance. This is a positive development," he tweeted.