Arjun meets Kalam, EC amid quota row

New Delhi, May 4: HRD Minister Arjun Singh, who is in the eye of a storm over OBC quota in government-run and deemed university colleges, today met the Election Commission and is understood to have personally explained his reported remarks on the controversy.

Mr Singh had met President A P J Abdul Kalam yesterday, but officials were tight-lipped over the details of the meeting and at whose initiative the Minister paid a visit to Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The Election Commission had, taking suo motu notice of media reports about the Minister's comments on quota, sent out two communications to Cabinet Secretary B K Chakravarty, asking him to secure the explanation of Mr Arjun Singh for his remarks in violation of the model code of conduct in force in view of the ongoing assembly polls.

The EC had given just two days' time to the Cabinet Secretary to reply to its first communication, but allowed a week for responding to its second letter which had sought clarification on the Minister's contention that he had done nothing in violation of the code.

The Minister had maintained that he had only referred to a Constitutional amendment approved recently by Parliament to provide for reservation for OBCs in educational institutions.

UNI