Khurshidspeak scares CEC

Prime minister Manmohan Singh has assured the Election Commission that its autonomy will be guarded.

He said this in the wake of chief election commissioner SY Quraishi complaining that law minister Salman Khurshid was attempting to "undermine the authority" of the constitutional body with his statements.

Sources in the EC said Quraishi sent a letter to the PM a fortnight ago. While defending government control of the Lokpal, Khurshid had said that all institutions were under the administrative control of the government. He had cited the example of the law ministry signing the file when an election commissioner travelled abroad.

The PM said the EC’s “autonomy was never under question. If there are any apprehensions, it will be taken care of.”

The CEC, meanwhile, dismissed the suggestion that it was getting personal between the two. "It is just an institutional issue," he said.

Earlier, the EC served show cause notice on the minister for promising 9% sub-quota for minorities in UP. Khurshid, however,  denied having violated the model code of conduct and said in fact the promise was made by the Congress before the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.

He reportedly said that he only used the word 'minority' and did not specify any caste or community so the statement does not directly violate the poll code."The actual election process has not started in Uttar Pradesh .. . and it was only a general statement given at a rally," he replied.