Khurshid should take Election Commission notice in right spirit: BJP

New Delhi: Reacting to the notice issued by Election Commission to Law Minister Salman Khurshid for violating the model code of conduct after he declared increase in reservation for Muslims, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said he must reckon the notice in the right spirit.

Talking to reporters, BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said: "Khurshid is the Law Minister and he certainly understands the significance of a notice which come from the Election Commission, when a state is going to the elections particularly with his wife as a candidate in one of the constituencies; I am sure he will take in that spirit."

On Monday, Khurshid had promised to raise reservation as against the existing quota of 4.5 percent reserved for groups bracketed under other backward classes, if his party is elected to Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

Following the statement by Khurshid , the BJP has been criticising the Congress party for such assurances of increase in Muslim reservation right ahead of the polls.

Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi refused to comment on the notice served by the Election Commission by terming it as a constitutional body.

"Election Commission is a constitutional body, I do not comment on it. This is Election Commission''s decision. The government had decided on the reservation for the minorities before the announcement of the elections. If the Election Commission thinks that the reservation decision should not be carried forward in view of conducting unbiased elections, it can do so but for only two months. After the elections are conducted, 4.5 percent reservation for OBC would be implemented," said Alvi.

He said that the decision of reservation could be put on hold for two months so as to ensure free and fair elections.

Uttar Pradesh elections, spread through a seven phase polling in the months of February and March are seen as an opportunity for Congress party to re-establish a foothold in its erstwhile political base in the country''s fifth largest and most populous state.

Uttar Pradesh will elect a new 403-member state assembly in March, and the poll results are expected to broadly indicate trends for 2014 general elections.