Any attempt to bring equality among the three Election Commissioners would lead to favouritism among the political parties, the BJP said against the Centre’s reported attempt to bring two Election Commissioners on par with the Chief Election Commissioner.
The chief opposition party asked the Left parties to clarify their stand on the issue started off by the Union Law Minister H R Bhardwaj's statement, which said the Constitution would be amended "ostensibly to create parity between the three members of the EC".
The alleged move is evidence in itself that the Election Commissioner Naveen Chawla was acting at the behest of the Congress and the Congress in its attempt to save and maintain Chawla on the post of the EC, trying to bring him at par with the CEC.
BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley said this had once again “put the Left Parties on trial” and asked the Left parties to make clear whether they would still blindly support the government’s constitutionally inappropriate action as suggested by the Union Law Minister and said Congress party’s worst fears had been confirmed.
Jaitley uttered that the Election Commission should be politically detached and equi-distanced. He warned of the negative aspect of preserving such practice of appointing partisan persons as member of the Election Commission. It would tempt upcoming governments to appoint his sympathizers as the member of the Commission.
Terming the move “infructuous,” Jaitley stated that the Centre has “conveniently forgotten” the fact that it does not command a two-third majority in both the Houses of Parliament to amend the Constitution.
“The ministry is considering a Constitutional amendment to equate the chief election commissioner with two other members of the Commission,” Bhardwaj said on Friday, in its attempt to defend Chawla.
The National Democratic Alliance had submitted a petition to the Chief Election Commission on last Wednesday to remove Mr. Chawla on the grounds that he had leaked information about the Commission’s meetings and was in close proximity to the ruling Congress party.
Legacy of CEC post
It was T.N.Seshan, who after working as bureaucrats for decades suddenly developed fangs after being appointed the Chief Election Commissioner. He did manage to bring the Commission out of the passive disorder it had developed. He used effectively all the powers supplied to him by the Constitution, and sometimes even more.
His tenure was full of controversies with a few excesses, but he managed to assert the independence of the Commission, which none of his predecessor had ever done. Ever since though all his followers have not done as good as Seshan, but they have all upheld the sanctity and independence of the Commission and carried the task forward. In fact in the recent years the steps to taken to ensure free and fair elections have been commendable.
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