B.B. Tandon today took over as Chief Election Commissioner and in an apparent reference to the Saptarishi controversy, said that he had been ‘‘pained and hurt’’ over recent developments which he felt were ‘‘deliberate and calculated attempts’’ to denigrate the Commission.‘‘Such attempts can never succeed in deterring me, my colleagues and the Commission’’ from working in ‘‘an objective, impartial and totally apolitical manner’’, he added.A 1965-batch IAS officer, Tandon will hold the office till next June and will head the EC as it conducts Assembly elections in five states. ‘‘I have been greatly pained and hurt over these developments since May 7, in which wild and baseless allegations have been made against me and my esteemed colleague N. Gopalaswami,’’ said Tandon, who took over from T.S. Krishnamurthy. ‘‘In particular, the scurrilous allegations that we made certain derogatory remarks against a particular community and that we wanted to teach a lesson to a particular leader is most reprehensible,’’ he said.‘‘On the very day itself, I had denied the allegation as being totally false and baseless,’’ Tandon said. ‘‘I hold all castes, communities, tribes, religions and parties in high esteem in true democratic spirit.’’He felt that it was a deliberate attempt to malign the EC and ‘‘undermine the credibility, political neutrality and fair-mindedness of the EC’’.Tandon said the EC is waiting to hear from the Government about the proposals submitted for electoral reforms. He also said the EC will consider issuing electoral rolls with photographs — initiated in Kerala and Pondicherry — in the entire country by the next Parliamentary polls. On photo-identity cards, Tandon said, ‘‘Our plan is to enhance the coverage of ID cards.’’
