The Hindu : National : Gill induction improper: BJP

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Tuesday, Apr 08, 2008
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Gill induction improper: BJP

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Political propriety demanded that the former Chief Election Commissioner, M.S. Gill, should not have been inducted as Minister, the Bharatiya Janata Party said here on Monday.

Party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said that he wished to state — without casting any aspersions on the role of Mr. Gill when he was the Chief Election Commissioner — that in all fairness a man who was entrusted with the responsibility of conducting a free and fair poll and who was by the nature of his job considered politically impartial should not have been given a clearly political job as a Minister.

“It is a bad precedent which could lead to erosion of the moral authority of the Chief Election Commissioner and the Commission itself,” Mr. Javadekar said.

After retiring as the Chief Election Commissioner, Mr. Gill was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab as a Congress candidate. On Sunday he was inducted into the Council of Ministers as a Minister of State holding independent charge of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

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