First, it was a proactive Election Commission in West Bengal that got their goat. Then it was no less an institution than the Supreme Court which made them see red over the demolitions in Delhi. Now with at least a dozen of their MPs—and 18 posts—on a slippery slope after a Bill shielding them from disqualification was returned by President A P J Abdul Kalam yesterday, the Left is slamming the EC again—and even taking a swipe at the President.

While their ally, the Congress, has chosen to be cautious in its reaction, the Left parties today, unnerved by the disqualification shadow, threw an open challenge to the Election Commission going to the extent of accusing it of being pushed by the BJP into reopening of pending petitions against MPs.

“Yesterday (Wednesday), BJP leaders went to the Election Commission and asked it to expedite complaints against MPs holding so-called Offices of Profit. Now we find that on the basis of the BJP demand, the Election Commission says it will proceed in this matter,” CPM general secretary Prakash Karat said after a meeting of four Left parties.

The Left leaders also made a veiled attack on the President on his questioning the propriety of bringing the law with retrospective effect. “This is the prerogative of Parliament and the state legislatures, they have the powers (to do so),” Karat said. Other Left leaders who attended the meeting were CPI’s A.B. Bardhan and D. Raja, RSP’s Abani Roy and Forward Bloc’s Debabrata Biswas. In fact, the Left’s strident posturing was evident Tuesday itself when hours after the President’s decision, CPM’s Leader in the Lok Sabha Basudeb Acharia promptly said the monsoon session should be advanced and the Bill passed again, unchanged.

... contd.