BJP spokesman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the party has "always respected the constitutional authority and was as much concerned about its prestige as any one."
NEW DELHI: Seeking to play down its complaint against the Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, the BJP on Tuesday stressed it was "not on a collision course" with the Election Commission.
"One thing we want to make clear very categorically that BJP is not on a collision course with the Election Commission," Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, senior BJP leader and spokesman, said.
Naqvi said the party has "always respected the constitutional authority and was as much concerned about its prestige as any one."
Naqvi, however, declined to comment on its letter against Chawla, saying the party will place its submissions only before the Commission on Wednesday.
Naqvi also sought to clarify that the remarks of senior party leaders in Lucknow yesterday were not directed against the Chief Election Commission, but the state election commission.
A BJP delegation comprising senior leaders including Naqvi, Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shankar Prasad submitted a letter with the Election Commission yesterday, requesting it to recuse Chawla from hearing the allegedly communal CD case.
The BJP's contention was it did not expect a fair assessment from Chawla as a case was pending against him in the Supreme Court in connection with receiving funds from a political party for his trust - few weeks before his appointment as election commission by the Congress-led UPA government.
Four parties -- Jan Morcha, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress -- too approached the commission yesterday, seeking "derecognition" of BJP on the ground of violation of election code by release of the CD in Lucknow.
BJP has disowned the CD saying it was released without the knowledge of party leaders. Two FIRs have been lodged in Lucknow at the instance of Commission. First one lodged on April 5 has no name. The second one filed next day named party president Rajnath Singh as accused.
Terming the Jan Morcha, BSP, SP and Congress a "pseudo-secular quartet," the party spokesman said their campaign against BJP is becoming "a trap for themselves from which everyone is trying to find a way out".
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