Rahul drops unforeseen bomb on Prime Minister, own govt

Cong vice-president junks UPA move to safeguard criminal lawmakers

NEW DELHI: Rahul Gandhi jolted the UPA government and left Prime Minister Manmohan Singh out on a limb on Friday by trashing a controversial ordinance designed to protect convicted lawmakers from disqualification.

“My opinion of the ordinance is that it is complete nonsense and should be tor n up and thrown away,” the normally reticent Congress vice-president said of a piece of legislation steered by the PM and widely thought to have the backing of top Congress leaders.

Rahul’s condemnation of the ordinance, which now looks dead in the water, exposed divisions between ruling party and government and undermined the position of PM Singh at the worst possible time — two days before talks with Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif and hours before a meeting with Barack Obama in New York.

The 43-year-old Gandhi scion strode into a media interaction by chief party spokesperson Ajay Maken at the Press Club of India and proceeded to demolish the controversial legislation before stunned partymen and journalists.

“What the government has done is wrong,”, he said, adding that it was high time that political parties stopped taking decisions based on political considerations. The ordinance overturns a Supreme Court ruling mandating disqualification of convicted lawmakers facing at least a two-year jail sentence.

“My opinion on the ordinance is that it is complete nonsense and it should be torn up and thrown out. I feel, personally feel, that what our govt has done as far as this ordinance is concerned is wrong.” RAHUL GANDHI, Congress vice-president “The government is seized of all these developments. The issues raised will be considered on my return to India after due deliberations in the Cabinet.” MANMOHAN SINGH, prime minister

The Congress was trying to push it through despite a bill pending in Parliament, possibly to protect party RS MP Rasheed Masood and ally Lalu Prasad. But President Pranab Mukherjee, who has to sign the ordinance, is understood to have demurred, and sought clarifications.

Calls for the PM’s head grew, with many observers seeing his position as untenable in light of Rahul’s outburst and the likely stillbirth of the ordinance.

CONTINUED ON P8

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