Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal has termed the ordinance undoing to negate the Supreme Court order on convicted MPs and MLAs a “severe blow to democracy.”

“The passing of this ordinance is not only a severe blow to democracy but also exposes the intentions of the political class which has stooped to a new low to protect the corrupt,” said Mr. Kejriwal on Tuesday while adding that as per the data available with Association for Democratic Reforms , there were 161 (30 per cent) MPs in Lok Sabha today at present with a tainted track record, of which 78 MPs faced serious charges.

“In Delhi Assembly, there are around 32 [46 per cent] MLAs with criminal cases, of which eight MLAs have serious cases against them. In fact, the Congress and the BJP fielded 19 candidates each in the last Assembly elections with criminal charges against them,” he added.

Posing a question to the political class and the general public, he said: “The Opposition parties have also kept quiet, only proving that all parties are together in this decision. The AAP wants to ask, if most of those who pass laws and ordinances in the country are themselves corrupt and have criminal record, can we expect strong laws against rapists, criminals and the corrupt?”