UP elections: Election Commission raps Salman Khurshid for quota promise

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission has censured Union law minister Salman Khurshid for violating the model code of conduct by promising 9% sub-quota for minorities in state government jobs if the Congress came to power in Uttar Pradesh.

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The EC noted that Khurshid had violated the poll code as the announcement came even before the Congress manifesto was released. Besides, the 9% sub-quota promise did not even figure in the party manifesto released on January 31.

The EC, while censuring Khurshid, noted that he should have been more careful as a minister in the Central government who not only holds charge of law portfolio but also the department of minority affairs. Asking him to set an example for others, the panel said it expected him not to repeat such poll code violations.

Khurshid had, in a campaign speech made last month at Farukkhabad, from where his wife Louise is in the fray, announced the Congress' plans to carve out a 9% sub-quota for UP minorities from the existing 27% OBC quota. This was seen by the EC prima facie as a violation of the model code of conduct and an attempt to disturb the level playing field.

The EC issued the minister a show-cause notice on January 11. Khurshid, on his part, defended his speech saying that he was only stating what was already included in the Congress' manifesto for 2009 general election. The minister, in his reply to the show-cause notice, said he only used the word "minorities" and did not specify any caste or community and could not be seen as appealing for votes along caste or communal lines.

He argued that when he made the speech, the actual election process did not start in Uttar Pradesh and that that there was no declared party candidate at the time. "So, there is no violation of the model code," he pleaded.

Incidentally, the Election Commission has no penal powers to enforce the model code of conduct, which is no more than a written understanding reached among different political parties to ensure a level playing field during elections. The panel can only censure those who violate the poll code.

It has almost become a practice for political leaders to appease select communities or castes ahead of polls in spite of the model code. Even though this brings them an occasional rap from the Election Commission, most leaders feel that this is a risk worth taking as their purpose of reaching out to the targeted community or caste is served once the appeal is made.