EC lets off Srinivas with a mere advice

NEW DELHI: The election Commission���which had rightly censured Varun Gandhi for threatening to chop the hands raised against Hindus, besides advising BJP to reconsider his candidature���on Tuesday appeared to have adopted a different yardstick for Andhra Pradesh Congress unit chief D Srinivas for his ���if-anyone-raises-a-finger-at-minorities-his-hands-would-not-be-there��� remark.

Deciding on the complaint alleging that the Congress leader had played the communal card at a public meeting in Nizamabad, EC did express its strong disapproval against Mr Srinivas, but let him off with a mere ���advice��� not to make statements that could be ���misconstrued or misinterpreted���.

Also, EC did not find it necessary to advice Congress not to allow him to contest from Nizamabad, which goes to polls on April 16. It be recalled that EC had on Monday clarified that it had refrained from such an advice against RJD chief Lalu Prasad���s candidature in its ruling on his ���roller��� remarks against Varun Gandhi saying that the former���s threat was limited to an individual whereas BJP leader had threatened an entire community. Though Mr Srinivas threat was also made with a particular community in mind, EC appears to have overlooked this fact.

EC���s kid-glove treatment to Mr Srinivas is also obvious from the patient hearing given to him���though the remarks were made on April 5, EC allowed him a good eight days to not only reply to its notice but also to send a CD of his ���own version of the speech���. In comparison, EC came out with its ruling on Congress��� complaint against Varun���s hate speeches within five days.

Only On Monday, EC had decided to do no more than expressing its displeasure against Lalu Prasad for threatening to run a ���roller��� over Varun���s chest and against his wife Rabri Devi for making personal remarks against Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and JD(U) leader Rajiv Ranjan Singh ���Lallan���.