Cong core group discusses Food bill

The meeting chaired by Sonia Gandhi deliberated on means by which the bill could be pushed through

For a Congress-led UPA that is desperate to get the Food bill passed before it goes into polls, the bill was again taken up at the Congress Core group meeting today.

The meeting which was chaired by Sonia Gandhi deliberated on the means by which the bill could be pushed through. There has been much talk about whether the ordinance route should be adopted or a special session convened. Sources said no final decision was taken on the issue of ordinance.

However, another round of discussions could take place within the next week on the issue to decide on whether to bring or go for the normal session, which means bringing it in the Monsoon session.

Earlier in the day, Congress spokesperson Renuka Chowdhary indicated the party's preference to bring a bill in Parliament with consensus of parties. When asked if ordinance would be adopted, she said, "If there is a blockade as we had seen then, we have to think. Food has to reach the poor."

Significantly, today itself NCP chief Sharad pawar has already made clear that he is not in favour of the Ordinance route and wants the bill to be debated in Parliament.

However Congress rejected all talk of divisions within the UPA over the Food bill.

There is asection within the party which is of the opinion that the ordinance route should be avoided and efforts should be made to bring the parties on board as escalating confrontation with the opposition will not serve any purpose since there is no urgency to go in for early polls.

Sources said that apart from the Food bill, the Telangana issue also came up for discussion at the Core Group meeting but no decision has been taken. Sources said, some clear stand could be taken by the party within the next fortnight.