The food security law is back on the Cabinet agenda with the government all set to take a call on Wednesday on whether it should take the ordinance route on the subject.
The subject was not taken up earlier despite being listed for Cabinet discussion a couple of weeks ago after parties like the SP signalled that they would oppose it if the government decided to issue an ordinance on the Bill. Sources on Tuesday, however, indicated that the government managers may have managed to convince the SP leadership as well as other allies, as a result of which the ordinance was back on the Cabinet agenda.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had directed Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath, Food Minister K V Thomas and Home Minister and Leader of the Lok Sabha Sushil Kumar Shinde to engage with opposition parties to build a consensus over the proposed legislation. It, however, appears that the scope of calling a special session of Parliament is no longer there.
The Congress hopes that the food Bill will be a vote winner in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Party president Sonia Gandhi, who is the main force behind the proposed law, has been keen on getting the legislation cleared as early possible.