Sonia Gandhi said the Congress stands by the PM despite the row over Rahul Gandhi's remarks. (File photo)
After Rahul Gandhi called it "complete nonsense", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to withdraw the controversial ordinance on convicted politicians in a cabinet meeting tomorrow, sources have said.
Dr Singh, who returns from the United States this evening, is expected to meet President Pranab Mukherjee tomorrow morning. The Cabinet is scheduled to meet at 6 pm on Wednesday.
A court in Jharkhand on Monday convicted and jailed Congress ally and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad in the 17-year-old fodder scam case. The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had accused the government of attempting to push through the ordinance to save Mr Prasad from losing his Lok Sabha seat.
The BJP said it was clear that the government had tried to misuse its constitutional powers to circumvent the Supreme Court order disqualifying convicted MPs. The ordinance would have allowed convicted lawmakers like Lalu Yadav to stay on without voting rights or salary until a high court decided on their appeal.
"Today we have all understood why this Ordinance was brought. Its only object was to help a loyal UPA ally who was likely to be convicted. In the end justice has prevailed. Be you ever so high the law is above you," wrote senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley on his website. (
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The government had denied the allegation but adamantly pushed the ordinance despite criticism from the BJP as well as the ruling Congress' own members, including union minister Milind Deora, until Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi barged into a party press conference on Friday and dropped the political bombshell.
"Personally I think the ordinance is complete nonsense. It should be torn up and thrown away," Mr Gandhi said, embarrassing the Prime Minister while he was on a key foreign visit, besides leaving him open to domestic ridicule and calls to resign.
At a rally in Karnataka yesterday, Congress president Sonia Gandhi reiterated her support for the Prime Minister. (
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