Simmering tensions in the Election Commission exploded in the public domain with CEC N Gopalaswami pushing for the removal of colleague Navin Chawla from the post of EC.
Simmering tensions in the Election Commission exploded in the public domain with chief election commissioner N Gopalaswami pushing for the removal of colleague Navin Chawla from the post of election commissioner on grounds of “partisan” behaviour. Gopalaswami made the recommendation in a letter to President Pratibha Patil, sent on January 15.
The move has ominous implications for the smooth conduct of the 2009 Lok Sabha polls as Chawla is due to be elevated to the post of CEC when Gopalaswami retires on April 20.
Gopalaswami’s bulky dossier to the President is believed to list 12 instances in which the CEC claims Chawla acted in a partisan manner to favour the Congress. Chawla refused to comment and told the media that he has not seen the letter.
A senior government source said they were expecting this bombshell from Gopalaswami before he finally bows out because the two warring commissioners have never seen eye-to-eye. Over the past three years, after Chawla was appointed to the EC, they have clashed on virtually every issue, from the timing of assembly elections in UP, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh to the office of profit complains against Jaya Bachchan and Sonia Gandhi.
While the BJP feels Chawla has strong pro-Congress leanings because of his close friendship with Sonia Gandhi, the Congress believes that Gopalaswami has a soft corner for the BJP, particularly LK Advani who placed him in the EC when the NDA government was in power.
Predictably, BJP leader Arun Jaitley rushed to Gopalaswami’s defence on Saturday and demanded that Chawla be removed. But the main opposition party appears to be divided on the issue with BJP president Rajnath Singh cancelling a scheduled media appearance with Jaitley after the controversy broke.
The government is playing for time. The President has passed on the CEC’s letter to the Prime Minister’s Office for advice. The PMO in turn has sent the letter to the law ministry. This is one way of putting the issue into deep freeze and avoiding a decision on Gopalaswami’s recommendation.
While legal experts to who DNA spoke said that the CEC’s recommendation is not binding on the government, Gopalaswami has attempted to put a question mark over Chawla’s credibility by levelling a charge of partisanship against him. The Congress hopes to turn the tables on Gopalaswami in the coming days by roping in political parties across the spectrum, from the Left to some NDA partners, to question his credentials.
The fight can only vitiate the process of making arrangements for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The process is supposed to start next week with the EC calling in political parties for consultations on dates.
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