CEC recommends removal of Chawla

New Delhi : The battle in the Election Commission has assumed unprecedented proportions with the Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami recommending to the government removal of the other Election Commissioner Navin Chawla.

The recommendation comes about three months before Gopalaswami is to demit office on April 20 and is based on a petition by the BJP which had complained against the “partisan” functioning of Chawla.

The BJP had alleged that Chawla was close to the Congress party “I did my job. The report has been given,” Gopalswami told PTI but declined to elaborate.

The Chief Election Commissioner’s recommendation ahead of the general elections brings to the fore the differences among the three-member body which has often been marred by clashes over crucial decisions.

Only last year, Chawla had raised serious objections to the holding of the Karnataka assembly elections in May but was over ruled. Similarly, he is believed to have also had reservations over the conduct of assembly elections of Uttar Pradesh in the summer of 2007.