Ordinance relief for Sonia likely

Opposition protests move to change law on MPs holding office of profit, House adjourned sine die

In an indication that the government was trying to bring an ordinance to address the issue of elected representatives holding office of profit, the Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die today.

The ordinance would in all likelihood increase the number of exempted posts, including several held by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Senior NDA leaders led by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee marched to Rashtrapati Bhavan this evening to protest the move and to urge President APJ Abdul Kalam not to prorogue Parliament.

Sources said the Union Cabinet will meet on Thursday morning and forward a request to the President to prorogue Parliament, the first step towards bringing the ordinance.

The Lok Sabha witnessed noisy scenes throughout the day with the BJP and the Samajwadi Party protesting that the ordinance was being brought only to protect Sonia Gandhi. Samajwadi Party MPs said the step could have been taken earlier to pre-empt the disqualification of their MP Jaya Bachchan. Opposition MPs rushed to the well of the House to protest this move shouting, "Baki sab bahana hai, sirf Sonia ko bachana hai (The only aim is to protect Sonia Gandhi)."

Leader of Opposition LK Advani said the adjournment of the House and the move to bring ordinance was "shameful".

"It is wrong and we oppose it," he said. "Till a few days ago, members of the Congress party were gloating over the removal of a Rajya Sabha member from another party over this issue. Now they are proposing an ordinance to protect their party members from similar action," said Advani.

It is learnt that some Samajwadi Party MPs have been given an assurance by the government that the ordinance could be implemented with retrospective effect, ie, it may be possible to reverse Jaya Bachchan's disqualification. "There are, however, legal complications in this. It is obvious that the government is flailing around for some support on the matter," a senior Samajwadi Party MP said.

The issue dominated proceedings in the Lok Sabha where no business apart from laying of papers could be carried out. The House was adjourned seven times during the course of the day as angry opposition and a defensive government confronted each other.

Lending credence to reports about the government's move to bring the ordinance, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi said the government had the right and responsibility to look into shortcomings in any law.

He, however, skirted specific queries. He said the Houses were adjourned sine die because all financial business was over and various political parties, including the BJP, wanted an early end to the session in view of the Assembly elections.