CEC sends report to President on the issue of Navin Chawla

Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami, has confirmed that he did send his report on the issue of Election Commisioner Navin Chawla to President Prathibha Patil. He however, declined to elaborate on the content of the report while speaking to reporters. Meanwhile, the Congress has said that political parties should not politicise such issues. Congress said that "several intricate issues of law", including the "very jurisdiction of the CEC to exercise such powers on a colleague" need to be looked into. Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi however said the party had no official notice of the recommendation or its content. We feel vindicated, says BJP Welcoming CEC's recommendation for the removal of Chawla, BJP said the move would strengthen the autonomy and impartial nature of the poll panel. "More than 200 MPs petitioned the President seeking the removal of Chawla as Election Commissioner. The Congress- led government did not act on that. We hope the President would at least act now," senior BJP Leader M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters in Hyderabad. "We are happy that our stand has been vindicated," he said. Chawla refuses to comment Refusing to comment on the CEC's recommendation, Navin Chawla said "I am not even aware of the CEC recommendations. I do not want to say anything. He said the Commission has conducted "flawless" elections for the past several years. "We will continue to do so."(AKS-01/02) Pranab says Govt will response in "due course" on CEC letter Government on Saturday said it will examine CEC N Gopalaswami's letter recommending removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla and give its response in "due course". "It will be examined and the government's response will be made available in due course," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters in New Delhi when asked about the Constitutional position in the matter. Gopalaswami's recommendation triggered a controversy and came under attack from Constitutional experts. Meanwhile Chawla, whose removal was recommended by Gopalaswami to the government on a petition filed by the BJP which had accused him of acting with bias in favour of the Congress, ruled out his resignation. Gopalaswami's action is the first by a CEC in the six-decade history of the Election Commission. Constitutional experts have attacked the CEC's decision, saying it has created a crisis and the timing could make people believe that there was "some motivation".

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