UPA coordination committee should discuss ordinance: Omar

Seeks to discuss the issue 'privately in a closed room'

After Rahul Gandhi's attack on the controversial ordinance on convicted lawmakers, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today sought a meeting of UPA coordination committee to discuss the measure threadbare.

Omar, whose party National Conference is part of UPA, said Gandhi's remarks were an internal matter of Congress but a meeting of the UPA coordination committee should be called to take all constituents into confidence and set right the "misunderstandings" regarding the ordinance.

"I would want the (Union) Cabinet to discuss it (ordinance) after Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) returns and I also want that a meeting of the coordination committee discuss the issue threadbare," the Chief Minister told reporters here.

Omar said misunderstandings have been created publicly about the ordinance and sought to discuss the issue "privately in a closed room".

"Whatever Rahul Gandhi has said is the internal matter and opinion of the Congress party.

"But as far as the UPA coalition is concerned, I think time has come that a meeting of the coordination committee should be called where all the constituents of UPA be taken into confidence and the misunderstandings which have been created regarding this ordinance and a situation which has been created publicly, that needs to be set right privately in a closed room," he said.

Rahul Gandhi had yesterday denounced the controversial ordinance to negate the Supreme Court verdict on convicted lawmakers as "complete nonsense" and which "should be torn up and thrown away".

Gandhi, whose remarks caused political tremors, had said he realised that what he felt about the ordinance was not in harmony with Cabinet's decision and the Core Group's view.

The controversial ordinance seeks to prevent immediate disqualification of convicted MPs and MLAs.