Ordinance row: Must be humble to accept and rectify an error, says Milind Deora

Mumbai: Union Minister Milind Deora, who created a furore with his tweet on the ordinance on convicted netas, today said Rahul Gandhi's criticism of the ordinance is "healthy for democracy" and said there was nothing wrong in accepting and rectifying an error.

"No statement seeks to undermine the authority of our Prime Minister. We have tremendous respect for him. The party and the government are on the same page. There is no difference. I would say it is a healthy day for democracy in the Congress, the UPA and the country. We are all humans and there is nothing wrong in accepting and rectifying what may be called an error. We should be humble and accept and rectify an error. The party is solidly behind the Prime Minister," he told reporters in Mumbai.

Mr Deora was among the first to tweet and air his views opposing the ordinance. "Legalities aside allowing convicted MPs/MLAs to retain seats in the midst of an appeal can endanger already eroding public faith in democracy," he had tweeted on Thursday.

Then yesterday Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi had called the ordinance "complete nonsense," and put Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is in the US, in an embarrassing spot. Mr Gandhi had suggested that the ordinance "should be torn up and thrown away."

As the PM's camp fought back against the politically embarrassing comments, sources close to the PM said the decision to bring the ordinance was taken and endorsed at a key party meet. Congress President Sonia Gandhi was part of that core group meeting last Saturday, September 21, when the party's top leadership cleared the decision to bring an ordinance skirting around the Supreme Court's order disqualifying convicted MPs and MLAs.

The ordinance pushed by the Government overturns a Supreme Court order that says elected representatives convicted and sentenced to over two years in prison will be disqualified immediately.

Commenting on the BJP's calls for the PM to resign after Mr Gandhi's comments, Mr Deora said, "The BJP had a position on this issue, which they changed now. As far as demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister goes, the BJP has been demanding it from the day the government was formed and it is just old wine in a new bottle."