02-12-2008, 11:20 AM
<b>Sonia signs allegiance to Belgium to accept award</b>
CNN-IBN
Mon, Feb 11, 2008
New Delhi: The Chief Election Commissioner, N Gopalaswamy and his two fellow Election Commissioners â Navin Chawla and Dr S Y Quraishi â is the troika responsible for maintaining the spirit of unity and democracy in India.
However, at present, they are finding it difficult to maintain the spirit of unity amongst themselves.
CNN-IBN has learnt that there is an intense battle on within the EC over whether Congress President, <b>Sonia Gandhi, should be served a notice for accepting an award from the Belgian government in November 2006.</b>
<b>The Order of Leopold â which is the second highest civilian award in Belgium â was conferred on Sonia Gandhi for helping in building a more tolerant society.</b><b>The catch was though that she had to sign her allegiance to Belgium.</b>
An individual complaint to former president, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam ended up getting forwarded to the Election Commission.
That is when the trouble began. A series of meetings led to no result. Finally, at a confidential meeting last week, the Chief Election Commissioner asked his two deputies as to why a notice should not be served on Sonia.
While one Election Commissioner is believed to have adopted a cautious approach, another felt that the issue was too frivolous, giving weight to his contention was the fact this was an award which had been given to international political heavy weights such as former US President Eisenhower and legendary Yugoslav leader Joseph Tito.
But this is not the first time that a massive disagreement is being seen in the Election Commission.
<b>In fact, ever since Navin Chawla took over as the Election Commissioner, there have been several instances where the Chief Election Commissioner and Chawla have not seen eye-to-eye with each other â whether it's issuing a notice to Sonia Gandhi or deciding when Karnataka elections should be held.</b>
BJP Spokesperson, Ravi Shankar Prasad says, "The Election Commission is an autonomous body and is fully empowered to take any action."
Over the last one year, the BJP has questioned Navin Chawla's neutrality on many occasions. The latest spat will give more ammunition to the BJP's campaign against the Election Commissioner.
CNN-IBN
Mon, Feb 11, 2008
New Delhi: The Chief Election Commissioner, N Gopalaswamy and his two fellow Election Commissioners â Navin Chawla and Dr S Y Quraishi â is the troika responsible for maintaining the spirit of unity and democracy in India.
However, at present, they are finding it difficult to maintain the spirit of unity amongst themselves.
CNN-IBN has learnt that there is an intense battle on within the EC over whether Congress President, <b>Sonia Gandhi, should be served a notice for accepting an award from the Belgian government in November 2006.</b>
<b>The Order of Leopold â which is the second highest civilian award in Belgium â was conferred on Sonia Gandhi for helping in building a more tolerant society.</b><b>The catch was though that she had to sign her allegiance to Belgium.</b>
An individual complaint to former president, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam ended up getting forwarded to the Election Commission.
That is when the trouble began. A series of meetings led to no result. Finally, at a confidential meeting last week, the Chief Election Commissioner asked his two deputies as to why a notice should not be served on Sonia.
While one Election Commissioner is believed to have adopted a cautious approach, another felt that the issue was too frivolous, giving weight to his contention was the fact this was an award which had been given to international political heavy weights such as former US President Eisenhower and legendary Yugoslav leader Joseph Tito.
But this is not the first time that a massive disagreement is being seen in the Election Commission.
<b>In fact, ever since Navin Chawla took over as the Election Commissioner, there have been several instances where the Chief Election Commissioner and Chawla have not seen eye-to-eye with each other â whether it's issuing a notice to Sonia Gandhi or deciding when Karnataka elections should be held.</b>
BJP Spokesperson, Ravi Shankar Prasad says, "The Election Commission is an autonomous body and is fully empowered to take any action."
Over the last one year, the BJP has questioned Navin Chawla's neutrality on many occasions. The latest spat will give more ammunition to the BJP's campaign against the Election Commissioner.