Now Varun Gandhi calls Election Commission a ‘toothless tiger’

The comments came a day after the opposition attacked the EC for not declaring the poll dates for Gujarat.

BJP leader Varun Gandhi has questioned the usefulness of the Election Commission while terming the poll body as a toothless tiger. The comments came a day after the opposition attacked the EC for not declaring the poll dates for Gujarat.

Varun Gandhi on Friday termed the Election Commission as a "toothless tiger" which, he said, has never derecognised any political party for not submitting poll expenditure details within the stipulated time.

He also said political parties spend a lot on the poll campaign, denying opportunity to people from a humble background to contest elections.

"One of the biggest problems is the problem of the Election Commission which is really a toothless tiger. Article 324 of the Constitution says it (EC) controls and supervises elections. But does it really do that?

"It does not have the power to file cases once elections are over. It has to go to the Supreme Court to do so," Varun Gandhi said while delivering a lecture on "Political Reforms in India" at the NALSAR University of Law.

He said the poll panel has never derecognised any political party for not filing the poll expenditure report on time.

"Though all political parties file late returns, only one political party belonging to the late PA Sangma (NPP) was derecognised for not filing returns on time, and the commission revoked the same a day after it filed the expenditure report."

OneIndia News