ordinance wrong, should be torn up, thrown away: Rahul

In a dramatic appearance at the Press Club of India here, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi Friday said the government was "wrong" in preparing an ordinance that seeks to save convicted lawmakers from disqualification and that, in his opinion, it should be "torn up and thrown away".

"What the government has done is wrong," Gandhi told journalists in an impromptu press meet that took everyone by surprise. Gandhi chose to walk into the Press Club soon after Ajay Maken, in charge of Congress media communication, finished his press interaction.

Seeking to project the Congress party's line on the controversial ordinance that has evoked sharp response from sections of the opposition and the public at large, Gandhi said: "My opinion of the ordinance is that it is completely nonsense and should be torn up and thrown away."

He said the ordinance was born out of " political considerations" and it was time "political parties, including mine, should stop making these kind of compromises".

"We should stop this nonsense," he said in comments that immediately created a stir and suggested schism between the government and party over critical issues.

-- Indo-Asian News Service

kbd/tb/vt