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Congress seeking convicted MPs’ help: CPI(M)

Vinay Kumar

NEW DELHI: Even as the numbers game is on ahead of the July 22 trust vote in Parliament, Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Thursday criticised the Congress for “taking recourse” to convicted Lok Sabha members to rescue the United Progressive Alliance government.

The CPI(M) Polit Bureau, in a statement, said there were reports that some Lok Sabha members, who were convicted of “serious crimes” and lodged in jail, were being mobilised to support the government.

“Political morality”

“While legally they [convicted MPs] may get the right to attend Parliament and vote, there is a question of political morality involved. The Congress leadership will be seen by the entire country as taking recourse to convicted criminals for sustaining their government,” the Polit Bureau said.

The party pointed out thatthree members — Rajiv Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav and Mohammad Shahabuddin of the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Suraj Bhan of the Lok Jan Shakti Party — were convicted in criminal cases.

Sentenced to life

While Pappu Yadav was sentenced to life for the murder of CPI(M) MLA Ajit Sarkar, Mohammad Shahabuddin got life term in a case of kidnapping with intent to murder, besides facing charges in the case of murder of CPI(ML) activist Chandrasekar.

Suraj Bhan got similar sentence in a murder case.

The Delhi High Court on Thursday allowed Pappu Yadav to vote on the confidence motion.

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