The Samajwadi Party said on Thursday that Amar Singh, facing a disqualification petition, would not resign from the Rajya Sabha. It also criticised the United Progressive Alliance government's plans of bringing in an ordinance on the office of profit issue, calling it a move to 'save' Congress president Sonia Gandhi from 'disqualification as a Member of Parliament'.
Addressing reporters after the party's Parliamentary board meeting, chairman Ram Gopal Yadav said Amar
Singh would not resign his Rajya Sabha membership.
"The board also expressed its 'concern over the government's move to save Sonia Gandhi, Congress president and chairman of National Advisory Council from imminent disqualification as MP by abruptly adjourning both houses of Parliament sine die to rush through an ordinance," Yadav said.
The Samajwadi Party would oppose the bill replacing the ordinance in Parliament since its very genesis is 'undemocratic', Yadav asserted.
The Congress party should have taken its allies and Opposition parties into confidence and introduced a bill instead of rushing through an ordinance, the party's leader in Lok Sabha said.
Singh, against whom a disqualification petition is filed and is being heard by the Election Commission, had offered to resign last week. In an apparent reference to Sonia Gandhi, he had also expressed the hope that leaders in other parties similarly placed, would also resign their memberships of Parliament.
Yadav said the government's step was in 'utter disregard to the established Parliamentary practices and traditions and once again proved that it has scant regard for democratic norms'.
The UPA government would not hesitate to impose emergency if it felt its existence was in danger, Yadav claimed.
In reply to a question, Yadav said the SP had decided to oppose all 'undemocratic' acts of the Manmohan Singh government, but parried a reply when asked if his party would withdraw support from it.
He, however, made it clear that the party would not support the National Democratic Alliance, as its main
constituent, the Bharatiya Janata Party 'could go to any extent by playing the communal card to capture power'.