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Congress 'shock' over BB Tandon's statement
by Vikram Vishal

     New Delhi: The leaders of the Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Tuesday sent a letter to Chief Election Commissioner BB Tandon expressing shock over his November 9 statement in which he, pointing at the Congress and RJD, had said "allegations against the commission are a part of the larger design to malign the commission". In the letter, signed by Congress leader Digvijay Singh and RJD leader Prem Chand Gupta, Tandons statement has been termed as "unfortunate," saying every word used by him carry the weight of the constitutional authority vested in him. Pointing at the issues raised by them with the Election Commission, which included punishment for the guilty of killing of innocent man by the security forces in Raghopur, action against Superintendent of Police who beat up RJD candidate Vijay Prakash Yadav, and re-poll in Bhagalpur district following certain remarks by EC's adviser K J Rao, they said it was just a protest which is their fundamental right. "We have only protested against these incident and demanded that corrective action should be taken to redress the peoples grievances. It is quite far-fetched to see any 'larger design' in these demands," the letter read. Expressing anguish over the incident, the two leaders further said that justice should not only be done, but it should also appear to have been done.