Election Commission lets off Veerappa Moily with a rap

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission let off Veerappa Moily with a mild rap for announcing the government's plans to increase the cap on subsidised cooking gas from six to nine a year. EC, which conveyed its strong displeasure to Moily through a letter, said the announcement was a clear violation of the election code. "The minister should be more circumspect in future," EC said.

In his reply to the EC direction to explain his statement on the LPG concession when the poll process was on in Gujarat, Moily said the government was yet to take a decision on the issue.

"There has been widespread demand from women and political parties cutting across party lines, both inside and outside the Parliament, to increase the cap in supply of domestic LPG cylinders. The government is yet to take a decision on the matter. My response to media queries should not be treated as an announcement regarding the decision of the government," Moily wrote.

In his letter to the Commission, Veerappa Moily said the government had consistently maintained that the decision to cap supply of subsidised cooking gas to six cylinders per household in a year was under review following widespread demands. "I reiterated this position in reply to queries from reporters on the sidelines of a CII function on Tuesday."

Soon after Moily made this announcement, poll panel met and decided to reprimand Moily for violating the model code of conduct. The panel had also ordered the government not to implement any new decisions till elections are completed. Talking to reporters, Veerappa Moily said there have been widespread demands including from about 100 Congress MPs, several chief ministers and union ministers, for revisiting the decision as only six cylinders per household was "not practical and away from reality."