File photo of Prakash Karat.
The recent public protests against the ordinance that sought to protect the privileges of convicted MPs and MLAs have had an impact. Today, the CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat categorically admitted that public mood was against bringing such a law and the government should withdraw the bill they had introduced during the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
Mr Karat told NDTV, "Though there was a view that some kind of safeguard should be given to MPs and MLAs against verdict of lower courts, recent experiences have shown that public does not want such things. We now think that there is no need for such a law and the government should withdraw the bill."
The party has also welcomed the proposed withdrawal of ordinance by Cabinet this evening. "Since UPA government has made it a habit to bring ordinance on very important issues, we were totally against the ordinance route and welcome any move to withdraw the ordinance," Mr Karat said.
The CPI(M) General Secretary also termed Rahul Gandhi's outburst as a "strange" way of expressing a viewpoint on a contentious issue. "It is an internal matter of Congress and I am not in a position to comment much about it. But if it is the way decisions are made and then unmade, all I can say is that something is wrong with the Congress's decision making structure."