Rahul's 'personal viewpoint' on ordinance expressed sentiments of many: Sheila Dikshit

New Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Saturday remained diplomatic about Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's controversial statement on the ordinance for convicted lawmakers, and said that it was his personal viewpoint and shared by many people.

"I think Rahul Gandhiji's statement expressed the sentiments of a lot of people and his statement was his personal viewpoint. The Prime Minister will return from America and discuss the matter," Dikshit said.

In a major embarrassment to the Congress-led UPA II Government, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi dubbed the ordinance to negate the Supreme Court verdict on convicted lawmakers as 'complete nonsense', and said it should be torn up and thrown away.

"I personally think what the government is doing on the ordinance is wrong. It was a political decision, every party does it, and there is a time to stop this nonsense," he said.

The developments came a day after President Pranab Mukherjee summoned senior Cabinet ministers Sushil Kumar Shinde, Kamal Nath and Kapil Sibal for consultations on the ordinance pending before him for signature.

The Union Cabinet had approved an ordinance to reverse the Supreme Court judgment mandating the immediate disqualification of lawmakers convicted for a criminal offence punishable with a jail term of more than two years.

The ordinance seeks to reverse the Supreme Court judgement that had not only disqualified lawmakers convicted of offences with two years or more in jail, but also barred from contesting elections.