Congress cites LK Advani letter to oppose Bill to keep CJI out of CEC selection panel
New Delhi, Aug 11: The Congress on Friday alleged that the Modi government wants to ensure control over the Election Commission in a poll year.
Sharing a letter written in June 2012 by veteran BJP leader L K Advani to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said even he had said that the appointments to constitutional bodies should be done in a bipartisan manner to remove any impression of bias.
The Centre on Thursday tabled a contentious bill in Rajya Sabha that seeks to replace the Chief Justice of India with a cabinet minister in the panel for selection of the chief election commissioner and election commissioners, in a move that will allow the government to have more control in the appointments of members of the poll panel.
Ramesh said Advani had also proposed a panel at that time with the Chief Justice of India and leaders of opposition in both houses, besides the prime minister.
"In its current form, the CEC Bill will ensure executive interference with its 2:1 dominance of the Committee. This coming from the Modi government in a election year further cements the view that Mr. Modi wants to ensure control over the Election Commission," the Congress leader charged on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana would go for polls this year.
Advani had written to Singh that, "There is a rapidly growing opinion in the country which holds that appointments to Constitutional bodies such the Election Commission should be done on a bipartisan basis in order to remove any impression of bias or lack of transparency and fairness."
Ramesh said, "No, this isn't a Modi critic. This is an excerpt from the second para of a letter from Advani to then PM Dr. Manmohan Singh on 2nd June, 2012. You can still find the letter on BJP's website."
He said to select the CEC and the Election Commissioners, the Committee he proposed comprised of the CJI along with leaders of the Opposition from both Houses of Parliament.
"The CEC Bill brought by the Modi government is not only against what Advani proposed but also overturns a 5-judge Constitutional bench judgment from 2nd March, 2023.
"'In order to allow independence in the functioning of the Election Commission as a Constitutional body, the office of Chief Election Commissioners as well as the Election Commissioners have to be insulated from the executive interference'," the Congress leader said quoting the Supreme Court verdict.
The Congress and other Opposition parties have been opposing the new CEC Bill.
“There is a rapidly growing opinion in the country which holds that appointments to Constitutional bodies such the Election Commission should be done on a bipartisan basis in order to remove any impression of bias or lack of transparency and fairness.”
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) August 11, 2023
No, this isn’t a Modi… pic.twitter.com/NDXAHLQ6DZ
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
