The Election Commission on Monday dismissed the charge of bias in its actions and made it clear that steps for the conduct of fair and free polls are “not directed against anyone.”
“It is totally unwarranted. All decisions at the Commission are taken unanimously,” Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi said on the charges by some political leaders in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal that the EC was “biased.”
Terming Tamil Nadu a “challenging case”, the CEC had earlier said that the EC cannot “close its eyes to rampant malpractices” there and rejected the charge levelled by DMK and PMK that it has imposed emergency in the State.
Reacting to the CEC’s observations, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi had reportedly said that “right from the beginning, he (CEC) has been taking a confrontationist stand. He is trying to show off his authority by suppressing existing electoral practices.”
Dismissing the charge, another Election Commissioner said that the Commission was taking area-specific measures to tackle problems like money and muscle power in the elections.
“These are not directed against anyone” and the Commission “believes in fair play” and equal treatment to political parties engaged in election process, he said.
“There was no question of bias. We go by rules,” said the third Election Commissioner.
