By IANS
New Delhi : A week ahead of the presidential election, the Election Commission Thursday disqualified Krishna Murari Moghe, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP, as he was simultaneously holding an office of profit.
Leader of Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh assembly Jamuna Devi sent a petition on March 30, 2006 to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam alleging that Moghe was holding an office of profit in the rank of a cabinet minister, even as he was an MP from Khargone in the state and sought his disqualification.
The president referred this petition to the Election Commission, which in turn deliberated on the matter.
The poll panel Thursday evening communicated the decision to disqualify Moghe to his party, BJP sources confirmed, even as Election Commission officials remained evasive.
Commission spokesman Rajesh Malhotra refused to comment on the grounds on which Moghe was disqualified.
A senior BJP leader said: “It was an inadvertent exclusion. Just a mistake on our part, we simply overlooked when drawing the list of offices exempted under the office of profit provisions.”
Moghe’s disqualification will reduce the strength of BJP votes in the July 19 presidential election by 708.