It has been more than five years since the September 2013 afternoon when Rahul Gandhi, then a party vice president, ripped up the ordinance cleared by the Manmohan Singh cabinet to save convicted lawmakers. Rahul Gandhi’s dramatic and open condemnation of the ordinance – he called it a “complete nonsense” - sealed its fate. The ordinance, aimed at bypassing the Supreme Court order that banned convicted netas, was withdrawn by the Cabinet. But his condemnation was seen as an affront to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and as their critics put it, a reflection of Rahul Gandhi’s attitude towards the office of the prime minister that he had undermined. “Everyone makes mistakes, I’m only human,” he said to a question about his set of mistakes and if he counted tearing up the ordinance as one.

Source: Hindustan Times May 10, 2019 09:33 UTC