The fate of the proposed ordinance to bypass the SC ruling on barring convicted MPs and MLAs on Thursday looked uncertain as President Pranab Mukherjee summoned Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and Law Minister Kapil Sibal to seek their 'clarification'.

This surprise move came amid opposition from the BJP, a section of the Congress and questions being raised on the legality of the move. The Cabinet had cleared the ordinance last Tuesday and sent it for the President's assent.

Mukherjee called the Ministers shortly after a high-level BJP delegation comprising L K Advani and Leaders of the Opposition in both Houses of Parliament Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley met him and requested that he refer the ordinance - which they termed as 'unconstitutional'- back to the government for reconsideration.

A section of the Congress has already voiced reservations against the ordinance. Ahead of the Cabinet decision, as reported by The Indian Express on Thursday, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had called up Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to express her disapproval. On Wednesday, Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh also said that a political consensus had to be evolved insead of resorting to the ordinance route. And today Union Minister Milind Deora tweeted: "Legalities aside, allowing convicted MPs/MLAs (to) retain seats in the midst of an appeal can endanger already eroding public faith in democracy."

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar slammed the UPA government for bringing the ordinance: "What was the need for bringing an ordinance through backdoor? It would have been better if the amendment bill was passed by Parliament after debate. Such important matters should be comprehensively debated in Parliament and passed after taking opinion of all the parties."

Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu, too, demanded its withdrawal: "The Union Cabinet approved the ordinance to rescue convicted MPs and MLAs. It is blatantly shameless - a trademark Congress move. We demand annulment of the ordinance."

... contd.

ALSO READ State-of-the-art swanky T2 opens at Mumbai airport

Please read our terms of use before posting comments