New Delhi, October 7
The Election Commission today found Dr Manmohan Singh-led UPA government guilty of violating the Model Code of Conduct by announcing the move to set up a commission to look into reservation for minorities.
The poll panel, however, let off the government with a warning that “the commission hopes that such lapses would be avoided in future.”
The BJP, which had complained to the EC, had sought to derecognise the Congress and cancel the party’s election symbol since the move to set up a commission was aimed at wooing the electorate on caste or communal lines.
“The Election Commission is emphatically of the view that the decision of the constitution of the commission should have been deferred till the date of poll, October13,” the poll panel said.
The decision of the government to set up the National Commission for the Welfare of Socially and Economically Backward Sections among Religious and Linguistic Minorities “at this juncture when elections are being held in two states of the country gives the impression of being aimed at influencing some sections of the electorate”, the commission said in a communication to the Cabinet Secretary.
The commission said the setting of the commission for minorities was against the spirit of para 1 of subclause 3 of the Model Election Code of Conduct, which prohibits the government and political parties from appealing to voters to vote along communal lines.
The model code had come into force from August 24 following the announcement of Assembly poll in Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh and by-elections in 14 states.
It observed that the government had sought the commission’s views on the issue of changing the policy on subsidy for Haj travel and decided to defer it.
The issue of setting up a national commission had the “same potential for influencing a section of voters but the matter was not referred to the Election Commission for its views”, it regretted.
It had been contended that the decision of the government to constitute the commission did not amount to violation of the model code on the ground that setting up of such a commission was in continuation of the President’s Address to both Houses of the Parliament on June 7, 2004, the commission said.
