NEW DELHI, December 18: The Election Commission has taken the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to task for deleting from the party's constitution the mandatory allegiance to the Indian constitution required of all political parties.The Commission today asked the TDP to explain by December 29 the reasons for this omission in its amended constitution.In a notice issued to the party, the EC has asked the TDP to explain the "full circumstances" under which this omission was made, the remedial action that the party proposed to take in this regard and the time frame by which the party would take remedial action.This is among the first decisions taken by the Commission after the recent tussle between Election Commissioner G V G Krishnamurty and Chief Election Commissioner M S Gill which ended on Wednesday with the former's return to Nirvachan Sadan.The TDP which registered as a political party with the Commission in September 1989 and is recognised in Andhra Pradesh, amended parts of its constitution at its general body meeting in March this year. Under the Representation of People Act, 1951, all political parties have to swear allegiance to the Constitution of India and to the principles of socialism, secularism and democracy and uphold the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India. But the freshly-printed TDP constitution does not carry this mandatory clause, an omission that the EC has questioned. In another development, the Samata Party has expressed doubts about the prospects of free and fair polls in Bihar.In a letter addressed to the Election Commission, Samata Party president George Fernandes said possibility of holding fair elections in Bihar was "bleak".Urging the Commission to ensure free elections in the State, Fernandes said that already unimaginable levels of corruption, negative growth, increased criminalisation, administrative anarchy and total lawlessness were being witnessed in the State.
