President clears Chawla as next poll panel chief

NEW DELHI: President Pratibha Patil on Wednesday approved the government���s recommendation to appoint Navin Chawla as the country���s next Chief Election Commissioner. Mr Chawla will take charge of the top job at the Nirvachan Sadan after the incumbent N Gopalaswami demits office on April 20.

His appointment comes barely days after the President rejected a recommendation from Mr Gopalaswami for the removal of Chawla as election commissioner. The President had accepted the government���s stance rejecting the CEC���s report against Chawla that accused the latter of biased in favour of the Congress.

The decision to appoint Mr Chawla is not surprising as the government had made clear its view that the CEC was not empowered to seek removal of a fellow commissioner. The government leaders had also been charging the CEC with exceeding his brief. Law minister HR Bhardwaj had said that the controversy will not be allowed to affect Mr Chawla���s career. Mr Bhardwaj stated that the government had a policy to have the senior most election commissioner as the CEC and ���our policy continues to be the same���.

The BJP described Mr Chawla���s appointment as an ���affront��� to Indian democracy. ���The CEC under whom Mr Chawla is functioning had given a detailed recommendation to the government to remove him as election commissioner. His conduct in the past has shown that he was biased in favour of the ruling establishment,��� said Mr Arun Jaitley. He said the UPA, which has been the beneficiary of the bias, has rewarded with the CEC���s job. ���The clean chit to him was not from an independent authority but from an entity that benefited from Chawla���s biases. The President is bound by the advise of the government,��� he said.

���He comes into office with the whole baggage of his past conduct. The onus will be on him to show that he���s not biased. We will be watching his activities closely,��� Mr Jaitley said.