New Delhi: Two days after the Union Cabinet cleared an ordinance shielding convicted MPs and MLAs and allowing them to contest elections, a delegation of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders is scheduled to meet President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday to voice the party's opposition to the ordinance. The BJP will urge the President not to sign the ordinance.
The ordinance that was cleared on Tuesday comes as a huge reprieve for legislators who were facing immediate disqualification as they can continue in office despite their conviction. The ordinance is a reversal of the Supreme Court judgement according to which lawmakers convicted of offences with 2 years or more in jail were to be immediately disqualified.
The order also barred convicted and jailed leaders from contesting elections after the court also reinterpreted the Representation of People's Act.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which has also condemned the government's approval of an ordinance to protect convicted MPs and MLAs from facing immediate disqualification, has also sought a meeting with the President
The AAP had said that the government's move exposes the intentions of the political class which has "stooped" to a new low to save the corrupt.
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