"Govt has a long hand, opposition needs handholding...": Former CEC SY Quraishi says BJP benefited from his "benevolence"

New Delhi [India], July 13 : Former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) SY Quraishi on Monday said the Election Commission (EC) under his tenure adopted an approach that was sympathetic towards the opposition, as parties out of power needed greater institutional support to ensure a level playing field.
Quraishi, who served as the 17th CEC from 2010 to 2012, said he had instructed EC officials to remain accessible to opposition parties and address their concerns promptly.
Speaking to ANI, Quraishi said, "We were very, very pro-opposition. My policy was, which I had told all my officers, since the government has a long hand, it can get many things done. It is the opposition, which is out of power, and they are the people who need sympathy and hand-holding. Therefore, I said the doors would be open. If they want an appointment tomorrow, give them today. If they want it today, give it to them now and listen to them and solve their problem. We had excellent relations with the opposition."
Quraishi said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), then the principal opposition party, benefited from this approach.
He also said that late BJP leader Arun Jaitley, who was initially "very hostile" towards him, later became "quite an admirer and a supporter" after seeing the EC address the opposition's concerns during his tenure.
"During my entire six years, the main opposition was the BJP. They were the beneficiaries of my benevolence. Mr Arun Jaitley, who was very hostile to me before that because of my proximity to Sushma Swaraj, when he saw me in action, listening to all his complaints patiently and solving them, he became quite an admirer and a supporter," he said.
Earlier, Quraishi had said that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had great respect for the Election Commission and recalled that when he was conveyed the poll body's views about the "loose talk" by his ministers during the second UPA government, he said, "If that is what you think, I'll commit suicide."
He said he was shocked to hear the words of Manmohan Singh and "was not prepared for this at all".
The incident pertains to the 2012 assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh and the EC had pulled up then Union Law and Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid over his remarks.
"When we were doing elections in UP, that was the time when Law Minister Salman Khurshid made an announcement that if they came to power, they'll increase the quota for minorities. Immediately, the BJP complained (to the Election Commission). We used to take all these complaints very seriously. We immediately gave notice to the other party and a battery of lawyers from both sides appeared," he said.