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Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi
The defeat of the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance in the Rajya Sabha would not affect the ban on People's War Group and the Maoist Communist Centre, as they have already been banned under other central acts, Congress spokesman S Jaipal Reddy said on Thursday.
He referred to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, among several other central acts under which the two ultra-left organisations have been banned.
When told that PWG and MCC had been banned under POTO because of their terrorist activities, Reddy quipped, "Just because you call some organisations terrorists, they don't become more illegal."
While the anti-terrorism ordinance is expected to be passed in the Lok Sabha on account of the National Democratic Alliance government's majority in the House, the opposition enjoys the upper hand in the Rajya Sabha, where the ordinance might face defeat.
Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including its chief K Jana Krishnamurthy, have already said that the Congress party and the Samajwadi party would be squarely to blame if POTO is defeated in the upper House.
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