Chief Election Commissioner T S Krishna Murthy, accompanied by Election Commissioners B B Tandon and N Gopalaswami, met President A P J Abdul Kalam on Monday.

The officials apprised the President of the developments in the wake of accusations by Indian Administrative Service officer L V Saptarishi that the two ECs had countermanded the Chapra polls at the behest of Bharatiya Janata Party chief L K Advani.

A detailed report was handed over to Kalam outlining the 'factual position' that led to countermanding of polls in Bihar and also dismisses Saptarishi's allegations, EC sources said.

Though the CEC's meeting was meant to be a 'farewell call', the issue cropped up and the three Commissioners explained their position.

Tandon is scheduled to take over from Murthy, who retires on May 16.

The EC had on Sunday termed Saptarishi's allegations as 'baseless'.

The Chapra polls were contested by Rashtriya Janata Dal chief and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad and the then civil aviation minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

The EC had contended that the election commission had passed an unanimous quasi-judicial order on May 10, 2004, setting out in detail the reasons for countermanding Chapra polls.

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