'I’ll Commit Suicide': Former CEC Reveals What Manmohan Singh Told Him After 2012 EC Controversy

Last Updated:July 13, 2026, 07:50 IST

According to Quraishi, this backlash was triggered after then Union Minister Salman Khurshid was pulled up for violating the MCC, while campaigning for the state elections.

Former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi recounted a conversation with former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in 2012 after he raised concerns over ministers making “loose talk" about the Election Commission of India (ECI).

In his book, “India and I: A Hundred Memories, Not a Memoir", Quraishi writes that the episode unfolded during the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. He recalled a visit to the PM’s residence after he expressed his anguish over certain remarks by ministers during the 2012 UP elections.

According to Quraishi, this backlash was triggered after then Union Minister Salman Khurshid was pulled up for violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), while campaigning for the state elections.

The controversy began when Khurshid, while campaigning, promised that if his party formed the government, the quota for Muslims in jobs would be increased from 4.5 per cent to 9 per cent, Quraishi added.

“The BJP promptly complained of a Model Code violation, which stipulated that no new scheme could be announced after the election process is set in motion and the MCC, Model Code of Conduct, kicked in," Quraishi wrote.

He said the Election Commission heard arguments from both the BJP and Congress for four days before deciding to censure Khurshid, describing it as “the strongest action available under the Code."

Following the censure, Khurshid was upset, Quraishi recalled, adding that some Congress leaders began to suggest that the Commission had become “arrogant or arbitrary."

“Criticism never bothers me; innuendo that chips away at institutional credibility does. This loose talk was not acceptable," he wrote.

Quraishi said he conveyed his concerns to Harish Khare, who was then serving as the Prime Minister’s Press Secretary. After listening to him, Khare asked whether the issue should be brought to Dr Singh’s attention, and Quraishi agreed.

The following day, Quraishi received a call asking him to meet the prime minister urgently.

“The next day, the RAX (Restricted Access Exchange) phone rang. ‘Prime Minister wants to speak to you urgently’. Moments later, Dr Manmohan Singh came on the line, his voice anxious: ‘Quraishi ji, can I see you urgently?’ The tone suggested he might come to me. I said. ‘Sir, you are the Prime Minister, I’ll come whenever you say. We fixed 7 pm," the book narrates.

Describing the meeting, Quraishi said Dr Singh appeared deeply distressed.

“‘Harish told me what you said. If that is what you think, I will commit suicide.’ I was speechless. My remark was about some ministers’ conduct, not about him," Quraishi wrote.

He said it took several minutes to reassure the former prime minister, who then responded, “‘I had absolutely no idea,’ he said. ‘If I had known, I would have blasted them. If ever you have something to say, just pick up the phone and call me’."

Quraishi also recalled Dr Singh saying, “The Election Commission is not just India’s pride; it is the soul of our democracy. If we lose that, we lose everything."

According to the former CEC, the remarks targeting the Election Commission stopped after he met with Dr Singh.

Reflecting on the incident, Quraishi wrote, “I have met many powerful people in my life but few who wore power so lightly, or felt its weight so deeply. In a profession that rewards a thick skin, Dr Manmohan Singh stood out for a rare sensitivity in the exercise of power."

(With inputs from PTI)

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