Ordinance row: PM and his Cabinet should resign, says Badal

With the UPA Government mulling over the withdrawing of the controversial ordinance that seeks to protect convicted lawmakers following Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's outburst, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Wednesday said Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and his entire Cabinet should resign if there is any morality left.

"It's up to him. If I would have been in his position then I would have quit," said Badal.

"It is an insult to the entire Cabinet. If there is any morality left, the entire Cabinet should resign," he added.

The Prime Minister met President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi for almost an hour this afternoon, and reportedly briefed him about the Congress Core Group's latest decision on the controversial ordinance on convicted parliamentarians.

According to sources, the Congress Core Group has decided to withdraw the ordinance. The meeting of the Congress Core Group was attended by the Prime Minister, party chief Sonia Gandhi, Ahmed Patel and others. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and Defence Minister A.K. Antony were not present at the meeting.

Rahul Gandhi, who had last week openly criticized the ordinance, met the Prime Minister for about 25 minutes at the latter's official 7, Race Course Road (RCR) residence earlier in the day. This was the Prime Minister's first interaction with Gandhi after his return from the U.S.

A special Cabinet meeting has been called at 6 p.m. today.

Dr. Singh, who returned home yesterday after his five-day visit to the United States, said there is no question of him resigning from office.

"I have seen Rahul Gandhi's statement. He has written to me on this subject also, and, let me say, that when issues are raised in a democracy, in a democratic polity, the right course is to start with trying to understand what is agitating the minds of the concerned people. When I go back, I will discuss these matters with Mr. Rahul Gandhi. He has asked for a meeting with me, and, I will also take my Cabinet colleagues into confidence. We will see which way the wind blows," Dr. Singh said onboard Air India One.

When specifically asked to respond to the opposition's demand that he should have resigned from office immediately after Gandhi's criticism of the ordinance while he was abroad, Dr. Singh said: "Well, there is no question of resigning. I said I will put all these issues before my Cabinet colleagues. These are all matters which are discussed before the highest body, the core group of the Congress Party. The Cabinet discussed this matter twice, not once. But, it is always possible to change one's mind, and, I will consult my colleagues on all these issues," he added.

In a major embarrassment to the ruling UPA, Rahul Gandhi had earlier on September 27 dubbed the ordinance to negate the Supreme Court verdict on convicted lawmakers as 'complete nonsense', and said it should be torn up and thrown away.

"I personally think what the government is doing on the ordinance is wrong. It was a political decision, every party does it, and there is a time to stop this nonsense," Gandhi had said in New Delhi.