Go, check your 2007 remark: CEC to Maya

NEW DELHI: Braving a volley of attacks by BJP and now even BSP chief Mayawati for his alleged ���pro-Congress leanings,��� the new CEC, Mr Navin Chawla, on Tuesday chose not to join issue with either but did recall the generous praise showered on the commission by the UP chief minister for the successful conduct of 2007 assembly polls in the state.

���After the 2007 election in UP, Ms Mayawati had called on the EC on a Sunday to personally thank us for the free, fair and transparent poll...she spent an hour with us,��� Mr Chawla told mediapersons soon after taking over as the CEC.

���The UP elections was a watershed election as you know...I don���t want to say further,��� he replied when pointedly asked for a reaction to allegations of bias levelled by Ms Mayawati, who was also equally critical of election commissioner S Y Quraishi.

As he assumed the top post at Nirvachan Sadan, Mr Chawla sought to put behind him all controversies and reaffirmed the pledge he had taken on joining the EC, of ���upholding the Constitution in letter and spirit.���

Welcoming election commissioner V S Sampath, who also joined on Tuesday, Mr Chawla said he was confident that the three members of the commission would take all decisions jointly and deliver ���as flawless an election as in the last four years and beyond.���

Recalling the Supreme Court���s verdict in the T N Seshan case that ���the CEC is only primus inter pares��� or first among equals, Mr Chawla ��� whose removal was recommended by his predecessor N Gopalaswami earlier this year but subsequently rejected President Pratibha Patil ��� said: ���We are equals...that is why we are here before you not as individuals but as all three together.���

���All our decisions will be taken jointly,��� he insisted.

With his takeover as CEC coming in the thick of polls, Mr Chawla recalled some of the major initiatives of the commission, particularly the expansion of the electoral photo-identity card (EPIC) scheme. Praising the intensification of the EPIC drive under Mr Gopalaswami, Mr Chawla said EPIC coverage has grown to an impressive 82% of the electorate over the last three years. ���We shall endeavour to continue our efforts to equip the remaining voters with EPIC,��� he said.

Mr Chawla also issued an appeal to the young and urban voters to ���come out (to vote) in the largest possible numbers and make India a democracy in the true sense.���

When asked about the criticism faced by EC from one political party or the other, the new CEC said the best compliment for the panel���s fairness was when both winning and losing parties came forward to thank it for successful conduct of elections.

���Some voices of dissent are as important as the voices of assent...something is to be learnt from that voice of dissent,��� he said.