Rahul Gandhi's rejection of convict lawmakers a blow to prime minister

Congress party scion Rahul Gandhi's rejection of a government decree to protect convicted lawmakers has "dropped a bomb" on India's prime minister and made it uncertain whether the PM can remain in office, newspapers said yesterday.

Gandhi, the No 2 in the ruling Indian National Congress' hierarchy, on Friday turned on the government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, calling a recently passed ordinance to allow convicted criminals to serve in Parliament "complete nonsense".

"Rahul drops bomb on PM, government," The Hindustan Times said in a banner headline.

The mass-circulation newspaper said Gandhi, 43, had "undermined the position" of Singh at the worst possible time - when he was on a visit to the United States to meet President Barack Obama and address the United Nations General Assembly.

Shekhar Gupta, editor of the influential daily The Indian Express, said it was now up to Singh to decide whether he wanted to resign or "stoop to carry on".

Gupta said it would be "heartbreaking" if Singh, a renowned economist, chose to carry on in the face of this "humiliation".

The decree passed by the government overturned a Supreme Court decision that lawmakers should be barred from contesting elections if they have a criminal conviction is widely believed to have been steered by Singh.

"My opinion on the ordinance is that it is complete nonsense and should be torn up and thrown away," Gandhi said in New Delhi on Friday at an impromptu news conference.

"If you want to fight corruption in the country … we cannot continue making these small compromises," he said.

The government had earlier argued that the court decision was unfair, saying politicians could often fall prey to conviction on "frivolous grounds" and should have the right to appeal after convictions.

"For both the party and the government, nothing could have been more embarrassing than the Congress vice-president's bombshell," the English-language daily The Hindu said.

Late on Friday, Singh acknowledged: "The ordinance cleared by the cabinet … has been a matter of much public debate." He added: "The issues raised will be considered on my return to India."

The order awaits clearance by President Pranab Mukherjee, but newspapers said Gandhi's intervention had virtually killed it.

Singh, making what will probably be a farewell visit to the White House after a decade in power, told Obama that India still faced difficulties because of the activities of its neighbour and bitter rival Pakistan.

Singh and his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, are expected to meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York this morning.

"I look forward to the meeting with Nawaz Sharif even though the expectations have to be toned down given the terror arm which is still active in our subcontinent," Singh said in Washington.