There seems to be some justification for Varun Gandhi's grouse against the Election Commission. The basic question is who shot the "hate speech" CD? Who delivered it to the channels? How did it land in the office of the Congress party which submitted it to the EC? Varun says that in the CD that was with the EC, there is the logo of a channel. He did not name the channel. Obviously, the EC cannot act on what appears in print or in the channels. Varun is quite right when he says he should have been given a fair chance to represent himself in person or through his lawyer to make depositions before the Commission. EC, for sure, did not apply principles of natural justice.

As of today, Varun is only an Indian citizen like you and me and not an official candidate of any party or is he an independent candidate. What jurisdiction the EC has on an ordinary citizen for inflammatory speech. It is for the law enforcement officials to take cognisance of any objectionable act committed by the citizens and not the EC. Why did the EC keep quiet when Samajwadi party declared that it was fielding Sanajay Dutt, convicted under TADA for more heinous and anti-national crime of colluding with those who waged a war against the nation? How come the EC did not advise Mulayam Singh Yadav not to field Dutt from Lucknow? That is where the EC's slip shows and shows very badly.