Govt ordinance: NDA lodges protest with Kalam

The National Democratic Alliance on Wednesday petitioned President A P J Abdul Kalam not to give his consent to any ordinance on the issue of office of profit, alleging that Parliament had been adjourned sine die solely for the purpose of saving Sonia Gandhi from a certain disqualification as parliamentarian.

Ordinance on office of profit in the offing

Led by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, 61 parliamentarians of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Opposition alliance marched to the Rashtrapati Bhavan and submitted memorandum to Kalam, urging him to give the nation a firm assurance in this regard.

Terming the decision to adjourn Parliament sine die as an assault on Parliamentary traditions and propriety, Leader of the Opposition L K Advani said, "There cannot be double standards - one for Jaya Bachchan and another for Sonia Gandhi."

Will Sonia Gandhi be disqualified?

"When the Parliament session was rescheduled in consultation with all parties, why have they been arbitrarily bypassed," he queried.

Asked about Kalam's response, he said, "The President said he will study and take proper steps. The ordinance will be challenged if it is brought about. The President can ask the government to bring in a Bill."

Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said he did not think that the government will come with such an ordinance and if it does 'the government will go.'

Referring to Samajwadi Party parliamentarian Jaya Bachchan's disqualification, the NDA, in its memorandum, said, "The ordinance is meant to exempt her office from the provisions of the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959, so that she can continue to reign as India's super prime minister - exercising all power with no accountability."

Drawing the President's attention to the refusal by the Uttar Pradesh governor to give his assent to a Bill passed by the state assembly, exempting certain offices from purview of offices of profit, the NDA said the apparent reason for refusal was that it was proposed to exempt these offices with retrospective effect.

"There cannot be double standards - one for UP and another for Centre. Since a Governor is your own nominee in a state, it would be improper for the proposed central ordinance to be ratified by you," they said.