Silence difficult, but more desirable to see through poll process: CEC on Lavasa's public dissent

Breaking his silence on the controversy surrounding fellow Commissioner Ashok Lavasa's demand to record any dissent in the Election Commission's model code orders, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora Wednesday said there are times to remain quiet and times to speak up, indicating the issue could have been raised post elections.

Arora also defended the clean chits given to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah on complaints related to model code violations, saying decisions were taken on merit and on "appreciation of facts".

In an interview to PTI, the CEC said he is not a "moral judge of anybody, least of all somebody as senior as Ashok Lavasa".

"Whatever may have been his misgivings or feelings, ultimately none of us can tell a lie to ourselves," Arora said, while noting that all the members of the poll body are not supposed to be "photo copies" of each other.

Asked whether the controversy relating to Lavasa's dissent was 'avoidable' during elections, Arora said, "I did not start the controversy ... I had said that eloquence of silence is always difficult but far more desirable to see the election process through instead of creating ill-timed controversies. This is what I had said and I stand by that."
On allegations from some quarters, including the opposition parties, that the EC was biased in clearing cases related to the PM and Shah, Arora said, "If the clean chit was given, it was given on merit and on the appreciation of facts. I have nothing more to say on that."