BJP on Sunday urged the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh to appoint a person with competence and impeccable record as the next Chief Election Commissioner after retirement of S Y Quraishi from the post later this month. In a letter to Dr. Singh, senior party leader L K Advani said there is a rapidly growing opinion in the country which holds that appointments to constitutional bodies should be done on a bipartisan basis.

Mr. Advani also urged that the new member to the Election Commission should be appointed by a broad based collegium comprising of the Prime Minister, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Law Minister, Leader of Opposition in both the Houses of Parliament.

Congress has charged Advani that the letter is an attempt to divert the nation's attention from party’s internal differences. The Minister of state for Parliamentary Affairs, Harish Rawat said the selection committee constituted for the selection of Election Commissioner is working very well.