The Election Commission is not impressed with HRD minister Arjun Singh's clarification on the 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in educational institutions. It has asked Cabinet Secretary BK Chaturvedi to seek further clarification from the Minister.
Taking suo motu notice of media reports, the EC had asked Singh to explain his statement regarding the proposed reservation, which it felt amounted to "new concessions to certain sections of the electorate in the five states where the poll process is currently going on.
The HRD minister denied making any statement about the exact percentage of reservation, while seeking to know "which provisions of the model code of conduct the Commission had in view" that were violated.
Taking a dim view of the reply, the EC holds that Singh had no need to 'disclose' there was a proposal for quota with the Cabinet Secretary in the first place. And that if the Minister's conduct had been proper, where was the need for the Cabinet Secretariat to send the draft bill back to the HRD ministry after the controversy.