EC wants Vilasrao to pay for Marathwada trip by Feb 2

MUMBAI: The ongoing tug of war between state election commissioner Nand Lal and chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh took an ugly turn on Monday with the SEC sending a notice to the chief minister to pay for his air-travel. The SEC believes that Mr Deshmukh���s tour to Marathwada last month was politically motivated.

Mr Lal and Mr Deshmukh have not been on good terms for quite some now. The tension between the two rose after elections to zilla parishads were announced. The state government challenged the SEC���s decision before the Bombay High Court, which stalled the process last week.

Mr Lal on Monday hit back by accusing the chief minister of trying to influence it. The SEC has now asked him to pay two expenses, incurred on his air travel last month to attend ���political and private��� functions, by February. Earlier, the chief minister had refuted the SEC���s charge that he had used government machinery for political purpose. Mr Deshmukh explained to Mr Lal that he used the government aeroplane for attending a state function and not for addressing a poll rally.

Mr Lal, it appears, was not impressed by the chief ministers��� clarification. He detailed the nature of each of the functions Mr Deshmukh attended and dubbed them as ���political and private functions��� aimed at influencing voters when the code of conduct for local body elections was in effect.

He also made it clear that the chief minister will have to incur the expenses for the said tour. ���Mr Deshmukh should pay the expenditure by February 2,��� the SEC order said.

Mr Lal said the chief minister tried to influence the functioning of the Commission as well. He gave the recent delimitation exercise for assembly and parliamentary seats as a case in point.

Along with Mr Deshmukh, the SEC named Congress ministers Balasaheb Thorat and Patangrao Kadam as those who tried to mediate on behalf of Mr Deshmukh on the issue of delimitation of the Latur Lok Sabha constituency.