Rahul meets PM over controversial ordinance

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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday met President Pranab Mukherjee after Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi discussed with him the ordinance that proposes not to disqualify convicted lawmakers.

Manmohan Singh went to Rashtrapati Bhavan to meet the president following the Congress Core Committee meeting attended by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and other senior party leaders.

Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi met Manmohan Singh to discuss the ordinance, which he had called a "complete nonsense" which should be "torn up and thrown away".

"He (Rahul Gandhi) arrived at the PM residence around 9:45 a.m... they discussed the ordinance," a party official said.

The prime minister also called a cabinet meeting Wednesday evening to review the controversial ordinance publicly trashed by the Gandhi scion.

The remark created a political storm, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) saying that the prime minister should step down.

Manmohan Singh Tuesday said he would not quit over the perceived undermining of his authority and that of his cabinet by Rahul Gandhi, who spoke up against the ordinance when the prime minister was visiting the US.