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Defending the action taken against Varun Gandhi, Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami on Saturday said his controversial speeches in Pilibhit were virulent and "much more than" what was shown on the television.
Ahead of his demitting office on Monday, he said in interviews that the fact of the matter was a stronger message must go.
"We said file a case and all cases have been filed. So the virulence of the particular incident is such that we had to go beyond what normally we keep as our limit. So we went beyond and said something which I think is perfectly valid as far as I am concerned," he said.
Asked if the Commission studied the tapes, the CEC said "yes, we did see. It was much more than what was seen on television. We thoroughly saw the tapes and we are thoroughly convinced of what we did. We never felt the tapes which we got were doctored."
To a query about fixing the onus on Varun to prove the tapes were doctored, he said normally the escape route taken by people was that they did not say that or they were not there or the tapes were doctored.
"These are the only three alternatives presented. How do you accept this kind of a thing," he said. Asked about criticism that the EC overstepped its limits by advising BJP not to nominate Varun in the elections, Gopalaswami said it was somewhat misplaced.
"The point is that there are some actions which are possible at your end legally speaking and if you (say) the Commission should not go beyond that even tender an advise what is the Commission for."
He said the Commission genuinely felt that it should go beyond what it normally did. "You cannot just compare this with the others and you cannot treat everyone equal on this when you know what you see and what you feel is far more serious,” he said.
Ahead of his demitting office on Monday, he said in interviews that the fact of the matter was a stronger message must go.
"We said file a case and all cases have been filed. So the virulence of the particular incident is such that we had to go beyond what normally we keep as our limit. So we went beyond and said something which I think is perfectly valid as far as I am concerned," he said.
Asked if the Commission studied the tapes, the CEC said "yes, we did see. It was much more than what was seen on television. We thoroughly saw the tapes and we are thoroughly convinced of what we did. We never felt the tapes which we got were doctored."
To a query about fixing the onus on Varun to prove the tapes were doctored, he said normally the escape route taken by people was that they did not say that or they were not there or the tapes were doctored.
"These are the only three alternatives presented. How do you accept this kind of a thing," he said. Asked about criticism that the EC overstepped its limits by advising BJP not to nominate Varun in the elections, Gopalaswami said it was somewhat misplaced.
"The point is that there are some actions which are possible at your end legally speaking and if you (say) the Commission should not go beyond that even tender an advise what is the Commission for."
He said the Commission genuinely felt that it should go beyond what it normally did. "You cannot just compare this with the others and you cannot treat everyone equal on this when you know what you see and what you feel is far more serious,” he said.
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