Rahul's 'tear' talk may force UPA to recall vexed ordinance

Ordinance was meant to circumvent an SC order that said Article 8(4) of RPA that sanctioned this was unconstitutional and illegal

In an unprecedented event, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-led government prepared itself to withdraw an ordinance it had sent to the President of India after its own party Vice President, Rahul Gandhi, called it ‘nonsense’ and said it ought to be ‘torn up and thrown away’.

On Tuesday, after holding consultations with all political parties, the Union Cabinet cleared an ordinance that would have allowed convicted MPs and MLAs to continue in office if their appeal was admitted by a higher court within 90 days and the conviction stayed. But they would not have been entitled to vote during House proceedings or draw salaries and allowances until the case was finally decided.

The ordinance was meant to circumvent a Supreme Court order in July that said Article 8(4) of the Representation of People Act that sanctioned this was unconstitutional and illegal.

But murmurs in the Congress began on Wednesday itself. Minister of State for Telecom, Milind Deora on Thursday afternoon, tweeted about increasingly endangered public spaces in democracy, no matter what the legality of the ordinance. Several young MPs from the Congress said privately that they were not in agreement with the party’s stand.

On Thursday, petitions were given to the President of India by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) not to sign the ordinance. The President called two senior ministers – Home Minister SK Shinde and Law Minister Kapil Sibal – to consult them on why the ordinance was necessary.

Earlier in the monsoon session, the government had announced that as part of ongoing efforts to prevent criminals from entering politics, it had readied legislation. This was to be referred to the Standing Committee.

The BJP’s argument was that an ordinance in the interim was ‘improper’. The Congress party got the distinct impression that the President might just decide to return the ordinance to cabinet which would have been a huge political embarrassment.

Perhaps to preempt this, Rahul Gandhi intervened dramatically, rubbishing the ordinance and demolishing the elaborately erected arguments of several senior party colleagues.

Not just P Chidambaram but also information Minister Manish Tewari and Minister of State in PMO, V Narayanswamy, just dropped what they were doing and pulled the shutters down.

This is the second time the President has caused it to rain on the government’s parade. Deviating from his prepared speech, at a function in Odisha a few weeks ago, the President had defended the way the economy was handled when he was Finance Minister.