The Hindu : Remarks against CEC distressing: PM

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Aug 25, 2002

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Remarks against CEC distressing: PM

By Harish Khare

New Delhi Aug. 24. The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, tonight finally broke his silence on the raging controversy over the unbecoming remarks by the Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, against the Chief Election Commissioner, J.M.Lyngdoh. Without naming Mr. Modi, the Prime Minister noted that he was ``distressed by the undignified remarks, made in certain quarters, about the Chief Election Commissioner in the context of the Assembly elections in Gujarat.'' He has appealed ``for an immediate end to this unseemly controversy.''

In a statement, Mr. Vajpayee pointed out that ``the Election Commission is a high Constitutional authority, which must be given the respect that is its due.'' Mr. Modi has been openly insinuating that because Mr. Lyngdoh is a Christian he is partial to the Congress headed by Sonia Gandhi (also a Christian).

Many sober voices within and outside the Government were puzzled by the Prime Minister's silence, even though his senior colleague, Murli Manohar Joshi, had publicly rebuked Mr. Modi. Almost the entire Opposition as well as a section within the ruling National Democratic Alliance also chided Mr. Modi for lowering the dignity of a constitutional functionary.

Mr. Vajpayee seemed to agree, once again, with the critics of his party ( which has found nothing amiss in Mr. Modi's tirade against the CEC). He said that ``one may have differences over the decision or the attendant observations of the Election Commission with regard to the Assembly polls in Gujarat. But no one should use improper language or make indecorous insinuations in expressing their views.''

Nonetheless, there is also an indirect hint of disapproval in the Prime Minister's statement of Mr. Lyngdoh's rejoinder to Mr. Modi. Mr. Vajpayee said that ``it must be recognised by one and all that the maturity of our democracy lies in all its institutions working within their Constitutional limits, respecting each other's domain and maintaining a proper balance.''

The Prime Minister was reportedly advised to break his silence in view of the fact that the Union Cabinet has sought, thorough a Presidential reference, the Supreme Court's opinion on the tenability of the Election Commission's order on Gujarat elections. It was felt that the legal merits of the Government's arguments could perhaps get overshadowed by the venomous pronouncement of a ruling party functionary, that too holding the high office of Chief Minister. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the Presidential reference on Monday, and the judiciary is prone to frown upon partisans casting aspersions on constitutional functionaries. Mr. Vajpayee's statement is an exercise in damage limitation, besides being a reminder that at least the Prime Minister is not unaware of his own ``raj dharma.''

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