New Delhi: BJP on Tuesday alleged that the ordinance to save convicted lawmakers from immediate disqualification had been brought in by the ruling Congress to save its own leaders and not just former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and its other allies.
The opposition party also welcomed the Supreme Court verdict sentencing Congress MP Rashid Masood to four years in jail and claimed a moral high ground that it was due to its stand against the proposed legislation that convicted lawmakers will now lose their seats.
"The Ordinance brought in by Congress in haste was to help its own leaders and not just its allies like Lalu Prasad.
"The ordinance was brought in to save senior Congress leader Rasheed Masood, Lalu Prasad and JD(U) MP Jagdish Sharma, as also people who could possibly get convicted for various scams that occurred during the UPA regime," BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said.
Hussain said had it not been for BJP`s opposition to the proposed legislation in Parliament and then to the said ordinance, convicted lawmakers would continue to sit in the legislative bodies.
He said that till even the last day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, Congress was "pushing" the new legislation to allow convicted leaders to continue.
"Congress had been demanding an extension of the Monsoon Session. They wanted to get the Bill on corrupt legislators passed in the House, but all their attempts were thwarted by BJP," Hussain said.
Hussain said that people of the country were awaiting conviction of more ruling party leaders in the Coalgate, 2G, CWG, Chopper and Railway scams.
Attacking Congress for creating confusion over the ordinance, he said, "Rahulji (Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi) gives a statement against the ordinance and Soniaji (Congress President Sonia Gandhi) says she stands by Manmohan Singh, but the entire Congress is behind Rahulji. It is a puzzle... We are waiting to see who is behind whom."
PTI
