Advani said when V P Singh was prime minister, a committee headed by the then law minister Dinesh Goswami had suggested the CEC should be appointed by a panel comprising the Prime Minister, opposition leaders in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, the Lok Sabha Speaker, the Rajya Sabha chairman and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.Advani said there was a move to give legal shape to this proposal but it was still pending and added that even without this, the government could implement it. The CEC's appointment by the Prime Minister was a wrong tradition, he said.
The BJP president said although he did not agree with all the steps taken by the present CEC who was retiring this month, Seshan had worked in a manner that made people recognise the importance of his post.
He said Seshan's tenure as CEC was marked by increasing awareness among people that there were errors in the present electoral system that needed to be reformed.
