'Decision to withdraw ordinance taken after hearing views'

CHENNAI: Minister of State for PMO V Narayanasamy today said the Cabinet decided to withdraw the ordinance on convicted lawmakers only after hearing the views of those in the government and the Congress party.

"There were multiple views on the issue and once they were discussed, a final stand on the ordinance has been taken", he told reporters here.

Reversing its earlier step, Cabinet had yesterday decided to withdraw the Ordinance as well as Bill that sought to give protection to convicted lawmakers in the wake of public outburst against it by Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi.

The minister said no alliance partner had left the UPA over the issue as they were not disappointed with the stand of the Congress.

To a query on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's letter to Prime Minister, in which she rejected the Raghuram Rajan report for Evolving a Composite Development Index of States, he said Tamil Nadu was a developed state and focus was being given to less developed states.

On Prime Minister's Manmohan Singh's participation in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, scheduled at Colombo next month, despite demand from parties in Tamil Nadu to boycott it, he said, "Prime Minister will take a call on that."

Over the Indian fishermen's issue, some of whom were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy personnel, he said External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid would take up the issue during his trip to Colombo on October 7.