CPI (M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Tuesday sharply attacked the Centre for bringing an ordinance on control of administrative services in Delhi and extended his party’s support to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in opposing it in Parliament when a bill is brought to replace it.

Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal met Yechury at the CPI (M) office here, seeking the Left party’s support on the issue. Senior CPI (M) leaders Prakash Karat and Brinda Karat and AAP leaders Atishi, Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chadha were present at the meeting.

Yechury made an appeal to the Congress and other Opposition parties to support the AAP on the issue, saying promulgation of the ordinance on administrative services in Delhi was a ‘brazen violation’ of the Constitution and this could happen with the government of any non-BJP party. He said the BJP government has been attacking the pillars of the Constitution.

Kejriwal said he would appeal to all the parties to support his party and strongly oppose the Centre’s move. This, he said, was an attack on the Constitution and could happen with any non-BJP government. ”The nation is supreme…the Constitution is supreme and we all have to protect it,” he said.

Yechury said; “Numerous attacks are happening on the rights of the states and this is one brazen way by getting an ordinance. We protest against this and whenever we get a chance to vote against it, we will.

Kejriwal said he has met TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pawar over the matter.

Asked about local Congress leaders’ view that their party should not support the AAP, the Delhi CM said the ordinance was not about him, but about the entire country and the people of the national capital.

“This issue is not about Kejriwal, but of the people of this country. It is about the insult of the people of Delhi. I appeal to them to forget Kejriwal and stand by the people of Delhi. They have to decide if they are with the BJP or with the people of Delhi,” he said.