The Election Commission today told a Congress delegation that it would hold a hearing on the showcause notice issued to Law Minister Salman Khurshid on January 19. On January 10,the EC had issued the showcause notice to Khurshid for alleged violation of the model code of conduct. Khurshid had promised 9 per cent sub-quota to backward class minorities within the 27 per cent OBC quota in state government jobs during a campaign meeting in Farrukhabad (Uttar Pradesh). In his reply to the poll panel,Khurshid had defended his remarks,claiming his statement was in line with the Congresss poll promise. When a Congress delegation led by party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi sought to present the partys position supporting Khurshid today,the EC said it would hold a hearing on January 19. We raised the issue arising out of the showcause notice. But the issue was not discussed as the Commission informed us that there is going to be a separate hearing, said Singhvi. The Congress delegation,which included Digvijaya Singh,Parvez Hashmi,Pramod Tiwari and Rajesh Pati Tripathi,complained to the EC about the misuse of government machinery by the BSP government and petitioned for the removal of some of the officials. We petitioned the EC regarding the grave violation of the level playing field in UP where bureaucracy at lower levels as well as higher levels are not working like government servants but like BSP servants. We have given a list of erring officials to the EC, said Singhvi. While Singhvi refused to divulge further details,Congress sources indicated that the list included state Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh and former Home Secretary Fateh Bahadur Singh.
