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Sonia attacks poll reforms ordinance

"The Congress party is fully in concurrence with the orders of the Supreme Court that candidates must disclose all relevant information called for, particularly regarding convictions and charges for offences, assets and bank balances, and liabilities and overdues," Gandhi said in a statement in New Delhi three days after the government sent the ordinance back to President A P J Abdul Kalam, who had to sign it.

The government had told the President that the ordinance was based on an all-party consensus and changes could not be made at that juncture.

Attacking the government and Bharatiya Janata Party functionaries for misleading the people, Gandhi said her party believed that all candidates must disclose all such information at the time of filing nominations.

She said, "We are distressed to find that large sections of the media continue to club the Congress party with other political parties in projecting the impression that all political parties are united in opposing the implementation of the order of the Supreme Court."

The Congress president pointed out that her party had clearly articulated its stand in the all-party meet as well as in a subsequent letter dated August 8.

The Congress was in disagreement only with the directions of the Election Commission, vesting returning officers with powers to investigate the authenticity of the information given and to reject nomination papers on grounds of incomplete or false information, Gandhi said.

The returning officer's responsibility should be limited to simply ensuring that the declaration is made and displayed on the notice board, she said.

"The Congress party is of the view that if declarations made by a winning candidate are subsequently found to be false or incomplete by an appropriate court of law, the election of such a candidate should become null and void, the seat should be declared vacant and the candidate should be meted out the punishment laid down under existing laws for filing a false affidavit," she said.

The BJP, meanwhile, accused the Congress of backtracking on the issue.

"It is surprising that even after Congress representatives supported the government move to either bring the legislation in Parliament or promulgate an ordinance, the party [Congress] president is reacting to the contrary. It is clearly an after-thought," party spokesman V K Malhotra said.

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