New Delhi:
A day after Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid wrote a letter to the Election Commission (EC), expressing regret over his remarks on the minority quota, the poll panel has, according to sources, decided to close the matter.
(Read: Salman Khurshid's letter)Under fire and finding himself increasingly isolated over his confrontation with the poll panel over the minority quota issue, Mr Khurshid had, in the letter addressed to Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi, said that he respects the institution and that he has always strived to strengthen the law.
Mr Khurshid has been involved in a bitter war of words with the poll panel in the last few days. The confrontation escalated to new heights after the EC sent a letter to President Pratibha Patil on Saturday, complaining about the minister's "defiant" attitude on his minority quota remarks.
(Read letter) The EC had suggested that the minister's remarks were a clear violation of the model code of conduct given the polls that are under way in Uttar Pradesh.
Mr Khurshid, in his letter, sought to clear the air, saying that he never intended to transgress the law or the model code of conduct during the elections. Significantly, in a major climbdown of sorts, Mr Khurshid said that the entire controversy was "unfortunate", adding that he "regrets the statement".
The minister had angered the Election Commission after he, at an election rally in the Khatakpur locality of Farrukhabad constituency in Uttar Pradesh last week, reiterated his promise for increasing the sub-quota for minorities if the Congress was voted to power, the poll panel's reservations notwithstanding.
"If they want to hang me they can, they can hang me for committing to people for a quota...We will change the fate of the poor, even if we have to go against EC, we will change the fate of the poor. I will then come and stand in front of the court of the people and fight my case. I want to stand in the court of the people and ask, 'isn't it the right of the people'?" Mr Khurshid had said.
In his latest letter to the EC, Mr Khurshid sought to clarify that his statement was just a part of the Congress's poll manifesto.
The olive branch extended by the Law Minister to the poll panel comes on the back of stringing criticism by the Opposition and differing voices within his own party, the Congress, over his role in the entire episode. While Priyanka Gandhi Vadra backed Mr Khurshid yesterday, senior party leader Pranab Mukherjee sounded disapproving of his remarks.
"Let me make it clear that this is not a party issue, though Congress General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi has already made the party's stand clear that people occupying posts of responsibility should behave responsibly," said Mr Mukherjee yesterday in Allahabad. His comments further indicated Congress' discomfort over the issue with the party having distanced itself on the matter.
The embattled minister, though, was strongly defended by his wife Louise Khurshid who said that her husband wouldn't say anything inappropriate unnecessarily. Speaking to NDTV, Mrs Khurshid, who is the Congress candidate from the Farrukhabad constituency ion UP where her husband made the controversial remarks, said that he had come there just as a campaigner and not as a minister.
(Watch)Earlier on Monday, with the Opposition gunning for the law minister's resignation, senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), L K Advani, kept up the pressure, saying that the minister should apologise to the Election Commission (EC).
"I congratulate the Election Commission. According to the law, 27% of reservations are there for OBCs. Law minister Salman Khurshid gave a statement which is totally wrong and they (Election Commission) censured him from speaking regarding reservations. Salman Khurshid should apologise to the Election Commission and he should follow what they said," Mr Advani had said.
Meanwhile, a complaint has been filed before the court against Mr Khurshid in Farrukhabad by a local lawyer, levelling charges of sedition against him. The court is yet to hear the complaint and decide whether a case needs to be registered or not.
With pressure mounting on him, Mr Khurshid had, late Sunday night, spoken to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to present his side of the story. He reportedly told Dr Singh that there is "no question of defiance and he is ready to accept whatever decision the PM takes." He also dismissed reports of differences with the government over the matter. "There may be different points of view but no differences," said Mr Khurshid.
Mr Khurshid spoke to the PM just a day after the President forwarded the EC's letter against Mr Khurshid to the Prime Minister's Office for appropriate action.
The remarks were immediately followed by strong criticism from the poll panel. In a strongly-worded letter to the President, the EC said, "The Commission is shocked that instead of being remorseful about the violation of the Model Code, that carries the consensus of all political parties and the sanction of the Supreme Court, the Minister has chosen to be defiant and aggressive. This is unprecedented."
Sources in the poll panel said that the EC "took the extreme step" as "its authority was undermined". Sources also added that the "ball is now in the President's court."
The EC's angry reaction stems from the fact that Mr Khurshid remained defiant despite being censured by it on Thursday over his minority quota remarks. The poll panel had found his statement to be a violation of the model code of conduct for elections, adding that that it expected him not to repeat such violations.
"We have found the tone and tenor of the Union Minister dismissive and utterly contemptuous about the Commission's lawful direction to him, besides the fact that his action is damaging the level playing field in the election," the EC said in its letter to the President.
(Read letter)Mr. Khurshid, while campaigning for his wife Louise, had promised the electorate last month that the party would increase the sub-quota for minorities to nine per cent from the now-promised 4.5 per cent, that would be carved out of the existing 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC).