Citing the Naval Chief’s appointment “made in undue haste,” the BJP on Saturday moved the Election Commission urging it to direct the Congress-led UPA dispensation to put all major decisions on hold till a new Government takes over.
Among others, it wanted the poll panel to prevent the Centre from going ahead with the appointment of the lokpal and finalising the name of the Army Chief General Bikram Singh’s successor at a time when the General Elections are underway.
The BJP also complained to the Election Commission (EC) about the “publicity” given by the Prime Minister’s Communication Adviser to the Government’s “achievements”; deletion of names of one lakh voters in Pune lok Sabha constituency; and the processing of appointments of teachers in Kendriya Vidyalayas by the Centre.
In its memorandum to the EC, the BJP recalled how the NDA Government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee held back an appointment in 2004 when a post fell vacant due to the death of Kerala Governor Sikander Bakht even though the latter had passed away well before the announcement of the election calendar by the commission.
The BJP pointed out that the entire process of selection of lokpal got aborted with the exit of eminent jurists. “As such, the whole selection process currently stands vitiated,” the BJP stated. Justice KT Thomas had quit as the Chairman of the nine-member
lokpal Search Committee in March saying that all they were being asked to do was to endorse the Government’s choice of lokpal. Earlier, noted jurist Fali Nariman also refused the Government’s invite to be a part of the Search Committee.
The BJP drew the attention of the EC to “the tendency that seems to be on the increase in the Government” to make major appointments during the election process itself which “are not desirable trends in a healthy democracy”.
“You are aware of the undue haste with which the Navy Chief was appointed. We learn that something similar is cooking in respect of the Army Chief where the present incumbent is due to superannuate in July 2014. We also hear that there is some hurried activity in hastening the selection process of the lokpal,” the BJP maintained.
Reacting sharply, the Congress asked the BJP not to politicize the armed forces. “They have kept themselves out of politics. It is a professional decision where the BJP has no role. As far as I know there is no procedure to consult the Opposition party before taking a decision,” party spokesman Shashi Tharoor said. His remarks came after BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad sounded a word of caution to the Government, saying the Army Chief’s appointment should not be made in a “hurry”
In a separate memorandum, the party charged Pankaj Pachauri, Prime Minister’s Communication Adviser, with “frontally violating” the Model Code of Conduct by publicizing his “Government’s achievements” and sought action against him.
Demanding action against the PMO official, the BJP drew the attention of the poll body to the Press conference called by Pachauri on April 18 “presumably to attempt a damage-control exercise” on the fallout of the revelations about the Prime Minister and the PMO contained in the two recently released books. “It transpires that Pachauri instead of focussing on the context of the two books, spent most part of the time in publicising the achievements of the Congress Government,” it said.
On the deletion of names of over one lakh voters in Pune lok Sabha constituency, the BJP asked the EC to allow all such voters to exercise their franchise at a later date. “The PM also has landed himself in the collateral responsibility of explaining this indiscretion,” the memorandum stated.
This apart, the BJP demanded an immediate stop to appointment of teachers being made in Kendriya Vidyalayas across the country despite the MCC being in force. “The Government must be instructed that it doesn’t make any appointment to important posts as it is in violation of the Model Code of Conduct,” BJP general secretary JP Nadda said after leading a party delegation to Deputy Election Commissioner Sudhir Tripathi and handing over a memorandum to him.