No last-minute requests to clear proposals: EC to Cabinet Secy

MIFFED AT ministries bypassing the Cabinet Secretary while seeking model code clearance for Cabinet proposals, the Election Commission (EC) on Thursday said it would not entertain lastminute requests for approval.

It also said that Cabinet proposals were being dispatched to the EC at the last minute to build pressure for approval. “The EC wants at least 48 hours to deliberate on a proposal before it is tabled for Cabinet approval,” the commission wrote to Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha.

This is the second missive dispatched to the government on consulting the poll panel before announcing decisions during election season. Last week, upset over some recent decisions of the government, the commission had written to Sinha, reminding him that steps taken during the poll season can only be announced after consulting the poll watchdog. Referring specifically to the finance and defence ministries, the letter noted that decisions such as those taken by them could have a bearing on upcoming Assembly polls in Punjab, UP, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.

Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi recently went on record to state that the EC was never consulted by the government on presentation of the Union Budget. The matter was brought to the EC’S notice by Opposition parties, which urged the commission to prevent the government from presenting it on February 1, just three days before the first phase of the elections, arguing that the government may announce populist measures to gain an unfair advantage.

Similarly, the commission found out about the Combined Commanders’ Conference only when the PMO sought the EC’S concurrence for Narendra Modi’s presence at the January 21 event in Dehradun.

The EC said that though proposals are being sent for vetting, they are landing on the commission’s table at the last minute. “It leads to creating undue pressure to give priority to such reference over other urgent time-bound business,” the letter states.