The Ordinance withdrawal was a reversal by the Cabinet as a rare instance of the Central Government being forced to take back a measure that was cleared after much deliberations in the ruling party and the Council of ministers after resistance from within. The decision came on a day of hectic consultations at the highest levels in the Congress party, allies, and the government on how to bring closure to the raging controversy after Rahul Gandhi's denunciation of the ordinance as "complete nonsense" that deserved to be "torn and thrown away".
The decision was reversed as the UPA Government was sensitive to public opinion and was not authoritarian in nature. NCP leader Sharad Pawar criticized the events leading to the reversal of the Cabinet decision, an apparent reference to Rahul's public outburst. He felt that institutions were being undermined when the decision on overturning the Supreme Court order which withdrew the immunity for convicted lawmakers. Another ally, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah was also critical of the way Rahul condemned the government in public, undermining not just the Prime Minister, but the whole Cabinet.
The cabinet's decision to withdraw the ordinance was a triumph of people's power. The public response which sought to overturn a Supreme Court judgment disqualifying MP and MLAs convicted for crimes punishable with a jail term of two years or more to the campaign was phenomenal. Along with the involvement of IAC led by Shri Anna Hazare, it forced the UPA to withdraw the controversial ordinance.
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