How the govt plans to untangle itself from the ordinance mess

Rahul Gandhi may have spoken, but the Cabinet meet that is to take place today to deliberate on the ordinance to rescue convicted lawmakers will decide whether it should be withdrawn or if the final decision should be left up to the President. [caption id=“attachment_1146905” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] PTI[/caption] The Congress core group will also be meeting before the Cabinet meet and is likely to discuss the matter, said reports. But given the Congress Vice President’s stance, its unlikely their view will differ in any way from his.  The Cabinet which passed the ordinance had also been hastily convened to meet today in order to discuss the legislation in light of the Congress Vice President’s vocal opposition. As CNN-IBN reported on Tuesday, the Cabinet note which specifies the topic of discussion at the meet, acknowledges the criticism for the legislation leading to the perception that it had attempted to defend convicted lawmakers. However, it defended the cabinet saying that an impartial reading of the legislation did not imply that. The note points out that the legislation moved in Parliament is presently before a standing committee and the ordinance is still to be signed by the president. The Cabinet note gives the ministers two options: wait for the ordinance to be passed by the president, withdraw the ordinance or await the recommendation of the standing committee. Given Mukherjee’s reluctance to pass the legislation, and given Rahul Gandhi’s strong views on the matter, the Cabinet is likely to act quickly and withdraw the ordinance perhaps maybe even before the President leaves for a foreign tour today. The President had earlier met with ministers, including Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Law Minister Kapil Sibal to discuss the ordinance and seek clarifications.