BSP welcomes SC decision on right to reject

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati Friday welcomed the Supreme Court decision on negative voting.

"We welcome the decision, Babasaheb (B.R.) Ambedkar was always in favour of this," Mayawati told reporters after meeting President Pranab Mukherjee on the situation in Uttar Pradesh following the Muzaffarnagar riots.

The Supreme Court Friday said for a vibrant democracy the voter has the right to negative voting by rejecting all the candidates in the fray by exercising the option of "none of the above" in electronic voting machines and ballot papers.

She also criticised the government's ordinance shielding convicted lawmakers.

"They should have created a consensus and should not have rushed with the ordinance," she said.

The ordinance, approved by the union cabinet, reverses 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.