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| Media, opposition defeat Congress's move to whittle down EC powers | | Model Code Of Conduct | | Rustam
JAMMU, Feb 23: The Congress-dominated UPA Government, which has scant regard for democracy and constitutional institutions and which is seeking to create an emergency-like situation in the country so that it could ride roughshod, yesterday suffered yet another humiliating defeat at the hands of the ever-alert Indian media and the opposition. The arrogant and dictatorial Congress wanted to undermine the authority of the Election Commission (EC) by clipping its powers or by implementing its highly dubious proposal for according "statutory status" to the Model Code of Conduct. The proposal was designed to take away the enforcement of the Model Code from the hands of the EC.
It was the media which informed the nation before hand about the Congress's dubious game-plan, with the opposition wasting no time in tearing into the Congress and declaring that it would not allow the UPA to tinker with the authority and powers of the EC. Thick-skinned and shameless as they were, Finance Minister, Law Minister and Telecom Minister dismissed as "totally mischievous" the reports to the effect that the UPA Government had planned to whittle down the EC's powers. They contested the media reports notwithstanding the fact that an official note prepared for the high-powered Group of Ministers (GoM) on corruption, which met yesterday, clearly suggested that the legislative department of Government of India might look into the aspects where "executive instructions" of the EC needed to be given "statutory shape". The note suggested that "(Pranab) Mukherjee was of the view that the Model Code of Conduct was one of the biggest excuses to stall development projects, and thus agreed with the request of the Law Minister to flag the issue and its inclusion in the agenda papers". In other words, the initiative came from Law Minister Salman Khurshid.
A few words on Khurshid. It was in the last week of December that the Union Cabinet approved a proposal providing 4.5 per cent religion-based reservation to the minorities, especially the Muslim minority, in the central government jobs and educational institutions. The government took this decision and issued orders for its implementation at a time when the EC announced schedule for assembly elections in five states, including UP. The BJP approached the EC and complained that the Congress had violated the Model Code of Conduct. The EC took cognizance of the complaint and stayed operation of the order. It was then that Salman Khurshid said that the EC must behave; it had to work under the overall control of the government. The EC lodged a complaint against Khurshid with the Prime Minister, who reassured that the sanctity of the EC would be maintained. What it had no impact on Khurshid who not only reiterated on January 9 at Farrukhabad the stand of the UPA Government on religion-based quota, but also announced that it would increase it to 9 per cent (read 33 per cent). The BJP again complained. The EC censured Khurshid and warned him, but with no result. Khurshid again reiterated the government stand at the same place and challenged the EC saying "I will not deviate from the path even if the EC hangs me or take any other action".
Khurshid was not the only senior Congress leader and Union Minister who willfully violated the Model Code of Conduct and challenged the authority of the EC. Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma, Coal Minister Sri Prakash Jaiswal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harish Rawat and Congress general secretary repeatedly violated the Model Code to woo Muslim voters. Verma threatened the EC saying "let it serve a notice on me, I will reply" and he challenged the EC at the same place, Farrukhabad, in the presence of the jubilant Khurshid and Dig Vijay. On February 20, Sonia Gandhi's son Rahul Gandhi also violated the Model Code at Kanpur despite the District Magistrate's instructions that he and others must follow the instructions so that law and order was maintained. The DM has booked Rahul and 40 others and an FIR has been filed against them. Earlier, Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra also violated the Model Code.
However, it was the action against Rahul that the Congress leadership couldn't digest and the result was the move of the Congress-led UPA Government to whittle down the powers of the EC or deprive the EC of its power to enforce Model Code to ensure free and fair poll by providing level playing field to all the political parties.
Credit goes to the media and the opposition, which defeated the Congress's ulterior move. It is a yet another slap on the Congress leadership's face. Time has come for the media and the entire opposition to isolate the Congress by exposing it and its misdeeds and do all that they could to comprehensively defeat those who are out to diminish the efficacy of the EC and other constitutional institutions, including Comptroller and Auditor-General. |
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