New Delhi, September 27
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s brusque remark opposing the ordinance that offers protection to convicted lawmakers shook the party and the UPA, and forced an embarrassed establishment to turn the defence of the government move on its head.

Party functionaries and ministers, who till then were stoutly defending the ordinance that allows convicted MPs/MLAs to retain membership, were caught off-guard after the Congress vice-president impromptu chose to articulate his stance declaring the government committed a wrong.

What prompted Rahul to join issue three days after the Cabinet and six days after the strategic Congress core group attended by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister and a few key ministers gave the go-ahead? By choosing to rubbish the ordinance, did he not put a question mark on a collective decision of the Union Cabinet and the core group?

Does the timing not undermine the Prime Minister’s authority at a time when he is on an official overseas visit? Was Rahul under pressure to stand up in the face of aggressive campaign unleashed by Narendra Modi? or Is it a plan to create a distinct group of younger leaders who feel the old guard in the party is not in sync with young India?Rallying around Rahul’s statement, Congress leaders now underscored it as a leader’s position on issues of public importance, something he has been accused of not taking in the past.

While Rahul sought to take a high moral ground on an issue that has been agitating the people and halt the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party from running away with the credit for stalling the ordinance, he in the process inflicted a deep wound on the decision making process in the government and its interface with the party.

Through the angry outburst, the Congress leader conveyed to the government that it erred in sensing the mood of the people by pushing for an ordinance that would have allowed MPs/MLAs convicted of serious offences and sentenced for two years to retain their membership by appealing to a higher court.