"To make an omelette, you have to break an egg," says Union Minister Sachin Pilot on Rahul Gandhi's denunciation of the aborted Ordinance on convicted lawmakers, though he feels that "choice of words and the timing may be in question".
Considered one among the core team of the Congress Vice President, he also rejected criticism that Gandhi's outburst on the issue undermined the position of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was at that time abroad.
The minister maintained that Gandhi and all party leaders have "utmost respect" for Singh.
"Does that not take some courage of conviction....To take it head on. To make an omelette, you have to break an egg. Gandhi had done it. Government and the party supports it. And I think the country is now in a better to position tackle the issue of corruption," he said on Karan Thapar's programme Devil's Advocate in CNN-IBN.
Pilot was asked whether Gandhi's outburst had not undermined the authority of the Congress Core Group chaired by party President Sonia Gandhi or the Prime Minister's Cabinet, which took the decision and reflected his "immaturity".
"We are running this government on the behalf of the people of India. If everybody wanted to change the decision, then we did it. There is nothing wrong in saying that we actually took a step back and reflected on what we were doing," Pilot added.
Rejecting the criticism against Gandhi on the issue, he said what the Congress Vice President did was now being supported by Cabinet by Congress party.
"...Perhaps the choice of words and the timing may be in question, but the intent, the sentiments and the objectives of what he said... Irrespective of that if we look back, we will look at the fact that Gandhi did something he believed in, the Congress believed. We have changed the mind. The government has rolled back.
