NEW DELHI: Navin Chawla assumed office as new chief election commissioner yesterday, a day after his predecessor, N. Gopalaswami — whose demand for Chawla’s removal from the Election Commission had raised a controversy — stepped down.
Downplaying the storm raised by Gopalaswami’s stand against him, Chawla said: “There will always be some voices of dissent. A voice of dissent is as important as a voice of assent. There is something to be learned by the commission from that voice of dissent. It is the way we can move forward in a composite manner.”
Affirming his constitutional duty, at his first press conference as the new CEC, Chawla said: “On the day I assumed office as election commissioner I took a pledge that I would uphold the Constitution in letter and spirit. Today when I am taking over as CEC, I am reaffirming the pledge.”
Chawla is the first CEC to assume office in midst of Lok Sabha elections. Chawla was appointed as a member of the commission on May 13, 2005. He will remain in charge till July 29, 2010, when he turns 65. The CEC remains in office for six years or till he turns 65, whichever happens earlier.
Chawla reacted coolly to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati accusing the commission of behaving in a partisan manner and calling him and Qureshi as “agents” of the Congress party.
At a press conference in Lucknow, Mayawati, who is also Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief said: “Both the new CEC Navin Chawla and EC S.Y. Qureshi were working on directives of the Congress and the charges made by outgoing CEC Gopalaswami seem to be correct.”
“Free and fair” elections were not possible with Chawla as CEC, Mayawati said. “They are against a Dalit (lower caste Hindu) becoming a prime minister,” she said.
Gopalaswami yesterday said that the bureaucrats don’t need to resign when their recommendations get rejected. He was addressing reporters on a wide range of subjects, including on the need to improve the postal ballot system for defense personnel.
Asked why he didn’t resign when his recommendation to remove Chawla was rejected, Gopalaswami said: “As bureaucrats, we send thousands of files. Some get accepted, some don’t. If we resign after every recommendation that has not been accepted, then there will not be one secretary left in the government of India.”
