President Pratibha Patil on Sunday rejected chief election commissioner N Gopalaswami's recommendation to remove Navin Chawla as election commissioner.

BJP's Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the decision was "unfortunate and not a good sign". Congress general secretary M Veerappa Moily said, "The CEC's recommendation was whimsical; it is only natural it was rejected."

The BJP has been consistently questioning Chawla's integrity. In March 2006, it submitted a memorandum signed by 204 MPs to president APJ Abdul Kalam, challenging Chawla's appointment. Now that Chawla appears likely to succeed Gopalaswami, the party raised doubts again. "When elections are round the corner, the commission should be non-partisan since people expect the exercise to be free and fair," Naqvi said.

But the BJP is isolated on the issue. Even the Left parties, which fell out with the Congress last July, welcomed the president's decision. The Election Commission is likely to meet on Monday to decide the schedule for the Lok Sabha election.

Javed M Ansari/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication