BJP pitches for Chawla's removal

Agencies

New Delhi: Fearing unfair elections, BJP has demanded Election Commissioner Navin Chawla's removal from election commissioner's post.

BJP's General Secretary Arun Jaitley said due to Chawla's closeness with Congress, it wouldn't be conducive to hold free and fair elections this year.

Jaitley also alleged that Congress was favouring Chawla as was indicated in the refusal of PMO to forward MPs memorandum to the chief election commissioner smacked off favouritism.

Jaitley added that a person prima facie indicted on the ground of political bias cannot conduct elections.

"Free and fair elections are the hallmark of India's parliamentary democracy. The Election Commission is a politically detached constitutional authority, which is entrusted with the responsibility of conduct of free and fair elections, and a person suffering from political bias is not suitable to conduct the elections," he said.

Earlier, the Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami had confirmed reports that he had sent his report and recommendations on the Chawla issue to the President Pratibha Devisingh Patil.

The Congress has said that such issues should not be politicised, as it involves several intricate issues of law that need to be looked into.