EC discounts Chhapra poll claim

It is beneath our dignity to respond to scurrilous charges: Poll panel

Railway Minister Lalu Prasad tightened his belt for the May 10 Supreme Court judgment on the repeated adjournment by the Patna High Court in the fodder scam case, by choosing a non-political target for attack as a diversion.

The charge by IAS officer LV Saptarishi that the Election Commission was casteist, gathered more momentum today after Saptarishi at a press conference repeated the charges he had made against Chief Election Commissioner-designate BB Tandon and Election Commissioner N Goapalswamy: that they made disparaging remarks about Yadavs and Prasad specifically.

In his letter to the Union Law Minister HR Bhardwaj, Saptarishi had claimed that last year's elections in Chhapra, where Prasad and BJP's Rajiv Pratap Rudy were contestants, were countermanded under orders from BJP chief LK Advani on which Gopalaswamy and Tandon had acted.

Ominously, Saptharishi claimed he had more proof, which he said he would produce after Tandon took over as the new CEC.

"Krishna Murthy has the entire record. He was unhappy and asked me what he should do. But he has to be a part of the group. It's their duty to hold fair elections but they are not and that is why these two officers should go," said Saptarishi.

For the record, the chief election commissioner today said the charges made by Prasad regarding the Chhapra polls were baseless.

The Election Commission on Sunday said it was beneath its dignity to respond to such "scurrilous and baseless" allegations.

"The free, fair and impartial manner in which the elections are being conducted in the country, including Bihar, has been seen and widely applauded by the whole country," the full commission said after an emergency meeting.

The whole issue is likely to find an echo in Parliament tomorrow. Interestingly, the Congress yesterday was silent on Saptharishi's charges.

Party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi did not comment on the issue at all. This suggests that the Congress does not want to get involved in a controversy from which it has nothing to gain.

The election commissioners cannot be removed unless they are impeached. Prasad has said they should be sacked.

On why he had waited so long to make the charges, Saptharishi said he chose the time because Tandon was about to take over as the CEC.

Interestingly, last year, the CEC had praised and appreciated Saptarishi for his invaluable service and objectivity while carrying out his duties as an election commissioner in Bihar.

He also said the inputs provided by Saptarishi helped the commission take important and quick decisions. There were words of praise for the IAS officer also from Arun Jaitley, who was the law minister then.