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NEW DELHI: BJP cited ex-PM Manmohan Singh’s anguished remarks that he would “commit suicide” after then chief election commissioner S Y Quraishi conveyed the poll watchdog’s pain at loose comments of his ministers as proof of Congress’s habit of attacking the institution, as it alleged that the party’s playbook had remained unchanged even in opposition.”When in office, it sought to browbeat the EC; when out of office, it seeks to discredit the institution whenever electoral outcomes don’t suit it,” BJP said, even as Congress picked up other references made by Quraishi in his forthcoming book to take a swipe at PM Narendra Modi.”It was neither Singh’s nature nor his ideology to politicise such national institutions. History has been and will continue to be kind to Dr Singh for his statesmanship and commitment to democracy,” Congress’s Jairam Ramesh said.BJP said when the Congress-headed UPA was in office, its ministers repeatedly targeted the poll body whenever they were pulled up for violating the model code of conduct.In 2012, the then law minister Salman Khurshid was censured for promising an enhanced Muslim quota during a campaign and the then govt allowed a public confrontation to escalate, BJP’s Amit Malviya said, citing Quraishi. Ramesh said while Singh considered the EC the soul of Indian democracy, Modi viewed it as “an instrument to exercise political hegemony”.
