Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Welcome step

President Pratibha Patil’s decision rejecting Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami’s recommendation to remove Navin Chawla as Election Commissioner is a step in the right direction. Her decision will send a strong message to senior bureaucrats that the power to take action against peers is vested with the political executive. The BJP’s charge that the question of neutrality of an Election Commissioner has been glossed over by the government is unacceptable.

With the decks cleared for his appointment as the CEC, Mr. Chawla should concentrate on conducting the 15th general election to the Lok Sabha.

J. Anantha Padmanabhan,

Srirangam

Now that Ms Patil — following the Centre’s advice — has rejected Mr. Gopalaswami’s recommendation against Mr. Chawla, the Election Commission should earnestly start preparing for the conduct of the next Lok Sabha elections. There is no reason to believe that Mr. Chawla, the next CEC, will favour any one party. Let us not prejudge him just because some political parties campaigned against him.

D.B.N. Murthy,

Bangalore

Seshagiri Row Karry,

Hyderabad

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

End to an unedifying chapter
Why U.S. policy risks repeating history
Time for new coalition for Obama
The Gaza earthquake and its aftershocks
Corrections and Clarifications
Welcome step
Crisis in Pakistan
Partial view
Surprising

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu