Election Commission Blinks

 Faced with election commissioner H S Brahma’s public criticism of the handling of the Varanasi standoff, the Election Commission did a U-turn and appointed a special observer to oversee polling in the high-profile constituency where BJP’s Narendra Modi is being challenged by AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal and Congress’s Ajay Rai.

With Tamil Nadu chief electoral officer Praveen Kumar being named special observer, Varanasi district magistrate and returning officer Pranjal Yadav will have to take a back seat in the conduct of polls. Yadav has been criticized by BJP for alleged partisanship after he declined permission for a Modi rally in the city.

Kumar’s appointment marked a dramatic climbdown on the part of the EC, considering that chief election commissioner V S Sampath had publicly defended Yadav and rejected BJP’s charge against him.