A high-level National Democratic Alliance delegation met the Election Commission on Tuesday and demanded cancellation of all appointments made by Bihar Governor Buta Singh to various statutory and other bodies on Saturday, alleging these were done in blatant violation of the model code of conduct.

'The decision of the governor is colourable and amounts to a direct challenge not only to the model code of conduct but the impartial authority of the Election Commission of India to hold free and fair elections,' the leaders, including NDA's chief ministerial candidate Nitish Kumar and Bharatiya Janata Party General Secretary incharge of Bihar polls, Arun Jaitley, said in their memorandum to the poll panel.

The NDA alleged that the Bihar governor made the appointments on the same day the Election Commission announced the schedule for elections to the state assembly and consequently, the poll code had come into effect.

Of the three appointments to the Bihar Public Service Commission, Laxmi Devi reportedly belongs to Lalu Prasad-led
Rashtriya Janata Dal and is a member of the zilla parishad while Sudama Rai is a member of the Congress, the NDA alleged.

• 'Buta Singh is Lalu's agent'

'Ram Karan Pal appointed to the Backward Class Commission is an ex-member of the legislative council and currently state vice-president of the RJD while Gulam Tahir has been personal secretary to former chief minister Rabri Devi.

'One can understand the dominance of one minority community in the appointments to the Minority Commission. But
it takes too much to swallow that the 15-point Programme Implementation Committee should have been packed entirely with members of one minority community. The objective is obvious, namely, of influencing the voters of that community during the coming elections,' the memorandum said.

"The political nature of the appointments and the suspicious circumstances in which they have been made is very
clear. We want the EC to take a serious view and cancel all the appointments," Jaitley told reporters, after the 30-minute long meeting.

• PIL filed against Buta Singh
  

Nitish Kumar said the delegation welcomed the poll schedule announced by the EC and urged it to ensure
that central paramilitary forces were deployed adequately in all sensitive booths to ensure free and fair polls.

"The tendency of the state administration is to deploy the forces in opposition strongholds and deploy only Home Guards in the strongholds of the ruling party," he said.

• In the hot seat: Buta Singh