Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday backed Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi’s stand on the ordinance to protect convicted legislators and called for recalling the controversial piece of legislation.
“Rahul Gandhi is right. The ordinance should be recalled. There is still time as the president’s approval is pending. In such a situation it would be best to recall the ordinance,” Mr. Kumar said.
“When any law is framed there should be a debate in the Parliament. We should not make it a prestige issue. This was a controversial issue. There should have been a debate on this. The government should not have resorted to a backdoor method. The people were against it. Senior political leaders of ruling parties were not in its favour. Framing of laws is best left to the Parliament,” he said.
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Asked if the ordinance was brought under pressure, Mr. Kumar said only the government would be able to clarify it.
Among the legislators the ordinance would have benefitted is Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad, a key political rival of Mr. Kumar.