Front Page   

BJP, Varun say EC has exceeded jurisdiction

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday rejected the Election Commission’s suggestion that it deny Varun Gandhi ticket for the Lok Sabha election, while he accused the Commission of indicting him for hate speeches “pressurised by political considerations.”

BJP spokesman Balbir Punj articulated the party’s position at a press conference here and Mr. Gandhi, his stand in a three-page response to the Commission.

Both made almost identical points at almost the same time: the Commission was politically biased; it had gone beyond its jurisdiction in asking the BJP not to give Mr. Gandhi party ticket; Mr. Gandhi had not been given a chance to appear in person before the Commission and therefore he was denied natural justice; and the Commission had not acted against TADA accused Sanjay Dutt or against Congress candidates Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar (both accused and acquitted by courts in the 1984 anti-Sikh riot cases).

Announcing that Mr. Gandhi would remain the BJP’s nominee in Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Punj said the Commission had no jurisdiction to make any suggestion on party candidates. “It was unprecedented for the EC to seek to redefine the contours of democratic practices” in operation since Independence, he said.

Reiterating a point made by Mr. Punj, BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley said the Commission could debar a candidate only if he or she was convicted and sentenced for more than three years and if that conviction was not stayed.

Mr. Gandhi, in his letter, said: “The EC had passed an opinion without independently applying its mind. I find the EC’s eagerness to exercise its recommendatory jurisdiction begins and ends with my case alone. The action has been pressurised by political considerations.”

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

BJP, Varun say EC has exceeded jurisdiction
Priyanka’s ‘advice’ to Varun
Congress, NCP pact in place
The people’s car rolls out
A battle along familiar lines
An ‘outsider’ vs local candidates
One hour in Davangere
‘Nano project commercially viable’
26/11: Ajmal Amir asks for lawyer
What motivated Ajmal
Farooq Abdullah defines ‘Kashmiriyat’
Advocates return to court after more than a month of boycott
State MPs fare better in Lok Sabha
Congress promises 6 kg. rice in manifesto
Ajmal admits he is from Pakistan
Notification issued for first phase polls
Constable killed in suicide bomb attack

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu