New Delhi: BJP leader LK Advani on Monday said
in view of the recent controversy over designating PJ Thomas
as Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC), a law should be passed
to de-politicise appointments to constitutional posts like
Election Commission, CAG and UPSC, among others.
"I feel it would be appropriate to decide now that a
law be enacted to de-politicise appointments to key
constitutional and statutory bodies," Advani said on his blog.
He expressed his concern over the "misuse" of authority
by the UPA government, be it in the case of Thomas`
appointment as the CVC despite a dissent from Leader of
Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj or the "polemical"
comments made by Law Minister Salman Kurshid which forced the
Election Commission to write to President Pratibha Patil.
"I would specifically commend inclusion of the Election
Commission, the Comptroller and Auditor General, the UPSC and
the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) in this list.
All that needs to be done is to include the Leaders of
Opposition (let these be of both Houses) in the selection
committees that perform these functions till now," Advani
said.
The former Deputy Prime Minister pointed out that
after Kurshid was indicted by the EC, the government made a
"tentative move" to curtail the powers of the Election
Commission in matters relating to any breach of the model code
of conduct but better sense prevailed and he expressed regret.
"The latest in this sequence of first-time occurrences
has been another central minister`s threat to the UP
electorate: Either you elect the Congress to power in the
state, or be prepared to see President’s Rule inflicted on
UP!" Advani said, referring to the remarks of Union Minister
Shri Prakash Jaiswal. "I do not recall any central minister ever before
threatening President`s Rule only because the electorate has
not opted for the Congress party!" Advani added.
He rued the repeated misuse of Article 356 to impose
President`s Rule in states since independence.
Hitting out at the UPA government, the senior leader
said that "totally unprecedented events" in the last 65 years
since independence have taken place in this dispensation.
"It started with the series of stinking scams and the
consequential back-breaking inflation for the `aam admi`,
issues that have dominated several Parliament sessions in
recent years," Advani said.
He insisted that never before had union cabinet ministers
been first removed from office on charges of corruption, and
later, after being indicted by courts, imprisoned in Tihar
jail.
PTI
