Click to play videoAn indignant BJP spokesperson, Arun Jaitley, said on Monday that it was not for the Election Commission to advise parties on who should and should not contest elections. This after the poll panel recommended to the BJP to withdraw Varun Gandhi as a candidate after his alleged hate speech made the national news. CNN-IBN's National Bureau Chief Bhupendra Chaubey caught up with Jaitley over the issue.
Bhupendra Chaubey: Mr Jaitley, the BJP has been supporting Varun Gandhi...
Arun Jaitley: Please don't put words in my mouth. Subject to what he says in his defence in various forums, assuming, not concluding that the tape is false, the BJP has disassociated itself from Varun Gandhi's views and has strictly told our candidates to adhere to the code of conduct. Having said that, I suggest that the right to advise who should and shouldn't contest in elections does not vest with the Election Commission.
Bhupendra Chaubey: Putting the legal considerations aside, don't you welcome the Election Commission's move?
Arun Jaitley: If the Election Commission had first issued notifications to the Samajwadi Party and other parties to not field candidates who have been convicted of terrorism or under Section 302, and then issued this advisory I might have been tempted to believe that the Election Commission had positive motive behind this. Even now, I don't question their motives, I question their jurisdiction.
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