IANS/New Delhi
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) S Y Quraishi has defended reprimanding Law Minister Salman Khurshid for his Muslim quota remarks ahead of the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, saying it was required to uphold the dignity of the poll panel.“The reprimand had to be there to protect the dignity of the election commission,” Quraishi said here.“Salman is a good friend. But, when we are holding offices as such, our first loyalty is to our work. As law minister, Salman is the custodian of law, but went around talking about reservation,” the CEC said in an interview. Khurshid was reprimanded by the EC after he talked of 9% job quota for Muslims during campaigning for the Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections, results for which were out on Tuesday.Asked if the EC had powers to debar politicians and ministers like Khurshid, Beni Prasad Verma and Sriprakash Jaiswal from participating in poll campaign if they violated election laws instead of just warning them, Quraishi said EC commanded such moral power that “a warning will have a lifelong impact” on such leaders and they would not dare repeat their mistakes again.Jaiswal had, during the campaign, stated that the central government would have no other option but to impose federal rule in Uttar Pradesh if there was a hung assembly. “Well, Varun Gandhi (Bharatiya Janata Party MP) who was reprimanded for his communal speech has not done it again,” Quraishi added.To another question on accountability of elected representatives, Quraishi said it would be interesting to check midterm what the voters thought of their member of parliament or legislative assembly by holding an assessment poll, say two years after the general elections.“If their performance is found unsatisfactory or not within set parameters, their seat should go to the candidate who came second in the general election. This way, there won’t be any corruption,” he said.“Of course, it would be interesting to assess the accountability report card of the elected candidate after say two years,” he added.Asked for his opinion on exit polls, Quraishi said for him it sounded like a “comical term” and exit polls should make an exit in no time.“Of course, as entertainment, these make a good pastime. The EC had banned exit polls till March 3, when the final round of voting took place. However, I have a feeling that in the interest of democratic paradigm, such calculations must not be allowed, no matter how on target these might be,” he said.