Ordinance on convicted lawmakers illegal, immoral and unconstitutional: Sushma Swaraj

The BJP met President Pranab Mukherjee this evening and requested him to return what party leader Sushma Swaraj described as an "illegal, immoral and unconstitutional" ordinance which was hurriedly approved by the government to protect convicted MPs and MLAs from disqualification. The BJP has alleged that the ordinance was timed to protect politicians like Lalu Yadav, a loyal ally of the minority Manmohan Singh government, who faces disqualification if a Jharkhand court convicts him on Monday in the multi-crore fodder scam.