‘Modi government taking control of EC in poll year’: Congress takes new dig at BJP-led NDA cites LK Advani's letter

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Lok Sabha Elections. Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana would go for polls this year The contentious bill tabled on Thursday in the Rajya Sabha seeks to replace the Chief Justice of India with a cabinet minister in the panel for selection of the chief election commissioner and election commissioners. The bill will allow the PM Modi government to have more control over poll bodies through the appointments of members of the poll panel.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh took to ‘X’, formerly known as Twitter, attaching a letter by Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader LK Advani to critcise the move by the BJP-led government. “There is a rapidly growing opinion in the country which holds that appointments to Constitutional bodies such the Election Commission should be done on a bipartisan basis in order to remove any impression of bias or lack of transparency and fairness." Ramesh's tweet read “No, this isn’t a Modi critic. This is an excerpt from the second para of a letter from Advani to then PM Dr.

Manmohan Singh on 2nd June, 2012." Ramesh added. Sharing a letter written in June 2012 by veteran BJP leader L K Advani to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said even he had said that the appointments to constitutional bodies should be done in a bipartisan manner to remove any impression of bias. Ramesh said Advani had also proposed a panel at that time with the Chief Justice of India and leaders of opposition in both houses, besides the prime minister.

"In its current form, the CEC Bill will ensure executive interference with its 2:1 dominance of the Committee. This coming from the Modi government in a election year further cements the view that Mr. Modi wants to ensure control over