On AAP's threat to boycott Opposition meet, Congress says...

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday said a decision on whether to oppose the Centre's ordinance on the control of administrative services in Delhi would be taken before the Parliament session.

His remarks come a day after the Aam Aadmi Party's ultimatum that it will walk out of the Opposition meeting in Patna if the Congress does not promise its support over the issue.

Asked about the ordinance issue and AAP's ultimatum, Kharge, before leaving for Patna on Friday morning, said his party would take a decision on it before Parliament's Monsoon session and wondered why it was being talked about elsewhere when it was a matter that pertains to Parliament.

"Opposing it or proposing it does not happen outside, it happens in Parliament. Before Parliament begins, all parties decide what issues they have to work on together. They (AAP) know it and even their leaders come to our all-party meetings. I don't know why there is so much publicity about it outside," Kharge said.

"About 18-20 parties decide together on what to oppose and what to accept. So instead of saying anything now, we will take a decision before Parliament begins," he said.

The meeting of opposition parties has been called by Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United chief Nitish Kumar to chalk out a joint strategy to take on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

"The AAP will stage a walkout of the meeting if the Congress does not promise its support against the ordinance," one of the party sources had said.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had expressed hope on Tuesday that the Congress would clear its stand on the Centre's ordinance on the control of administrative services in the national capital at the meeting of non-BJP parties in Patna.

Keeping cards close to its chest, the Congress has so far kept its stand ambiguous as to whether it would support the AAP or not when the ordinance is put to test in Parliament by the BJP-led Centre.

Congress leaders Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, her Delhi counterpart Kejriwal, Punjab's Bhagwant Mann, Tamil Nadu's M K Stalin, Jharkhand's Hemant Soren, Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav, Maharashtra's former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, and Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar are among the leaders expected to attend it.

Leaders of the People's Democratic Party, the Communist Party of India-Marxist, the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist and the National Conference will also attend the first high-level opposition meeting.