A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking direction to restrain Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami from conducting the ensuing Gujarat election as he was known to be close to the Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Advocate R K Garg in the petition said, ''Mr Gopalaswami is not only having friendly nexus with the present Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, but he also was known to all the bureaucrats, as he is a retired Gujarat cadre IAS officer.''
The voters of Gujarat were apprehending that the November 11, 2007 election would not be conducted in a free and fair manner, he said in the petition filed on behalf of the Gujarat Mukti Vahini through its president Manzoor Ali Khan.
''The Chief Election Commissioner has been entrusted such vast power that he could tilt the electoral balance in favour of a particular party or individual,'' the petition said.
