New Delhi:
The union cabinet will meet tomorrow to decide the fate of an ordinance on convicted politicians that it approved last week, as the ruling Congress hunts for a face-saver after its second-in-command Rahul Gandhi trashed the executive order as "complete nonsense."
A cabinet note, prepared for tomorrow's meeting and exclusively accessed by NDTV, suggests that the government is looking for a way to withdraw the ordinance, but without accepting the allegation that it tries to protect convicted lawmakers.
The note that has been circulated among cabinet ministers reads, "After the cabinet decision was made public, the provisions of the proposed ordinance have come in for sharp public criticism leading to a perception that the Government seeks to protect convicted legislators by circumventing the provisions of the law... Any reasonable reading cannot lead to this conclusion."
It proposes a discussion on whether the government should wait for the President to promulgate the ordinance or then withdraw it and send it for review to a parliament committee. But the note admits that a "withdrawal would mean respecting public opinion."
Before the cabinet meets at 6 pm on Wednesday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who returns tonight from a visit to the US, will meet the President and will also attend a meeting of top Congress leaders called the core group.
The core group, including Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the PM, had met on September 21 and gave the go-ahead for the ordinance, which provides that convicted lawmakers can remain in office, without salary and voting rights, while a higher court hears an appeal, skirting around a Supreme Court order that such MPs and MLAs will be immediately disqualified.
But last Friday, Rahul Gandhi barged into a press conference and said, "The ordinance is complete nonsense. It should be torn up and thrown away." The outburst embarrassed the PM on a key foreign visit and left him open to ridicule back home. Sonia Gandhi yesterday said the party was firmly behind the PM.
The BJP has accused the government of trying to rush the ordinance in time for the verdict on Lalu Yadav, a loyal ally of the Congress. Mr Yadav was convicted and jailed on Monday in a fodder scam case and stands to lose his Lok Sabha seat.