EC completes hearing on Khurshid's minority promise

The Election Commission has completed its hearing in connection with the notice served on Law Min Salman Khurshid over his promise of increasing sub-quota for backward minorities while campaigning in Uttar Pradesh. The Election Commission had issued a showcause notice to Khurshid for having promised that his party would provide nine percent reservation to backward minorities from the existing 27 percent reservation meant for OBCs should it return to power in UP. Khurshid had made the remarks on 10th January in Farrukhabad while campaigning for his wife Louise who is contesting as a Congress candidate from there. The notice was served after BJP complained against him for allegedly violating the model code of conduct by making such promises to woo minority voters. Wrapping up the arguments for the Law Minister on Friday, his lawyer Abhishek Singhvi told the Commission that Khurshid had not done anything wrong and in doing so was acting as an individual Congressman and not as a minister. "The Election Commission has completed a second set of detailed hearing today and all relevant facts have been put before it. But the contentions on behalf of Congress party and Mr Khurshid made by us were that Mr Khurshid was acting purely and totally in his capacity as an individual Congressman. He made no announcement as a minister," Singhvi told reporters after the hour-long meeting with EC on Friday. BJP also appeared before the Commission and sought stern action against the Law Minister for alleged violation of model code of conduct by wooing voters through such promises. BJP spokesperson and lawyer Ravi Shankar Prasad said "BJP has filed a complaint against Mr Salman Khurshid, who is not only the Law Minister but also the Minister of Minority Affairs. On the 10th of January in the constituency of his wife in Farrukhabad, he made an announcement that if you vote us, we will increase the quota to 9 per cent for Muslims and minorities. This was clearly designed to garner votes because he is also the Minority Affairs minister." Prasad said "we placed all our facts and law before the Commission. It is very important that model code of conduct operates in a level-playing field. Therefore, such a declaration must commend strong denounciation from the Commission for being clearly violative of model code of conduct." Congress earlier said what Khurshid had said was consistent with the party's known stand of having some quotas or reservations within the backward class and that "there was absolutely no appeal on the ground of religion and he talked of minorities generally and of no religion". Singhvi added "what he said was consistent with all the past manifestos and is also now endorsed and affirmed by the recent manifesto released by Congress a few days ago in Uttar Pradesh along with its vision document." "We also made the point that the Election Commission itself in its notice has said that Mr Khurshid used the word minorities and referred to no religion... We hope and trust that these proceedings are dropped because Mr Khurshid has done nothing wrong. The Congress party has not allowed him to do anything wrong nor supported him from doing anything wrong." Prasad contended this complaint is not against Congress but is against the Law Minister Salman Khurshid. "It is a clear violation of the model code of conduct enforced in the state on December 23....There should be a ban on ministers making such statements to woo voters ahead of elections," said the BJP leader. Friday was EC's second hearing on the issue as Congress had appeared before the EC earlier too and strongly defended Khurshid for his quota remarks. BJP had appeared in the case today after EC had asked it to do so. Khurshid had courted a controversy earlier too when he suggested that his Ministry had administrative control over the EC, prompting CEC S Y Quraishi to complain to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who, in turn, reassured the EC of its functional autonomy.