Khurshid speaks to PM after EC complains to President

New Delhi: Law Minister Salman Khurshid today spoke to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh against the backdrop of Election Commission's complaint against him to President Pratibha Patil in which the panel accused him of "improper and unlawful" defiance of its orders.

Sources close to the minister confirmed that Khurshid, who is currently in Lucknow, had a telephonic talk with the Prime Minister but it could not be known what transpired.

Acting swiftly on the complaint by the Election Commission against Khurshid, the President had last night sent it to the office of the Prime Minister for "appropriate action".

In an unprecedented step last night, the Commission sought "immediate and decisive" intervention of the President accusing the Law Minister of "improper and unlawful" defiance of its orders under which he was censured for promising sub-quota for minorities.

In a strongly-worded communication to Patil, the EC said Khurshid's action could "vitiate free and fair polls" in Uttar Pradesh and that it was "perturbed because the undermining of its Constitutionally-mandated duties has come from the Law Minister who has direct responsibility to uphold and strengthen the EC rather than to denigrate it".

The Commission took the unprecedented decision to complain against a Union minister to the President after Khurshid had told an election rally in UP earlier in the day that he would continue to pursue the line on nine per cent sub-quota for minorities 'even if they (EC) hang me'.

Khurshid spoke to the Prime Minister on a day when Congress virtually snubbed him for the controversy with party general secretary and media department chief Janardan Dwivedi underlining that all partymen should "speak as per the norms of public life and the law of the land".

BJP has demanded sacking of Khurshid and its ally JD(U) said Khurshid should be banned from visiting Uttar Pradesh while CPI(M) disapproved of his "defiant stance".

When asked to comment on Dwivedi's remarks, Khurshid said, "Hum bhi to yahi keh rahe hain...Sabko apne dayre me rahna chahiye", (I am saying the same thing...Everyone should remain in his limits".

Khurshid also said there may be different points of view but there are no differences.

Khurshid's party colleague Digvijay Singh defended him, saying every political party has the right to talk about their programmes during election campaigns and it was not correct to press charges like these against political leaders.

"With great humility, I would like to ask the EC that if political outfits are not allowed to speak about their agenda, then the party manifesto should also be stopped," Digvijay said.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj of BJP demanded dismissal of Khurshid as the Law Minister for acting against the Constitution.

"We request the President to withdraw her pleasure and dismiss Salman Khurshid as a Minister of the Union Cabinet for acting against the law and the Constitution," she tweeted.

BJP leaders L K Advani and Arun Jaitley, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, also made a similar demand.

"The PM should sack Khurshid for making comments on EC. No minister had ever made comments against the EC in such a way. After being censured by the Commission, the minister is making mockery of model code of conduct", Advani said.

"I have reason to believe it's a part of scripted conspiracy by Congress to communalise UP elections..the more it's done..you might save yourself from the utter disgrace," Jaitley said.

"It is my appeal to Prime Minister that such cheap tradition should not be set that during elections the Law Minister become the main law breaker," he said.

Supporting the EC's move against the Law Minister, CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat said the Commission has the complete right to implement code of conduct in case of any violation.

JD-U president Sharad Yadav maintained that the Law Minister has a "politically-driven agenda" and demanded that the Prime Minister should "ban" him in Uttar Pradesh as he was trying to "desperately" get votes.