Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is believed to have prevailed upon a divided house for a tacit support to the judicial appointments commission bill.
The government introduced the long-awaited bill at a time when the Chief Justice of India batted in favour of the collegium, leaving the Congress a divided lot.
In a meeting on Parliament strategy, the party's deputy leader in Rajya Sabha, Anand Sharma, emphasised the line that Congress should work with other parties to press for a standing committee review on the bill that aims to overhaul the system of appointment of judges in higher courts.
According to sources, there was also the political consideration that the BJP will walk away with all the credit of passing the bill in its first full session of Parliament.
Party sources added that Gandhi did not quite agree with the idea of confrontation with the government on this issue. He pointed out that the Congress may send a wrong signal if it tries to delay the passage of the bill that aims to bring more transparency in the appointment system.
During his consultations with party colleagues, Gandhi reportedly also said that the party should not take wrong steps at this time.
During the UPA regime, Gandhi had termed an ordinance to protect convicted lawmakers as "complete nonsense" and forced the Manmohan Singh government to withdraw it.
{{/usCountry}}During the UPA regime, Gandhi had termed an ordinance to protect convicted lawmakers as "complete nonsense" and forced the Manmohan Singh government to withdraw it.
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