The Election Commission has withdrawn its proposal for creation of an autonomous body to impart electoral training to professionals of other countries, Government said on Thursday.

The proposed setting up of IIDEM as an independent autonomous body had raked up a controversy, with Law Minister Salman Khurshid, who had opposed it, and Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi involved in a face-off on the issue.

"...following the experience of a highly successful working of IIDEM (India International Institute of Democracy & Election Management) in the last nine months as a direct part of the Election Commission, the Commission has recently withdrawn its proposal for creation of an autonomous society for IIDEM," Khurshid said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.

He said, "The (Election) Commission has stated that IIDEM will function as a part of the Training Division of the Election Commission of India."

The Election Commission had earlier proposed to set up IIDEM as an autonomous body under the Societies Registration Act and requested the government for due representation in the government structure of the Society, he said.

Khurshid had earlier shot down a proposal of the poll panel to grant independent status to the IIDEM, which later snowballed into a controversy with Quraishi taking strong objections to the proposal's rejection by the Law ministry.

The relations between Khurshid and Quraishi were further strained after the former claimed that the Law Ministry has control over the Election Commission to the extent that it accords sanction for foreign travel of the Election Commissioners.

As Khurshid ruffled feathers by saying his ministry has administrative control over Election Commission, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had to assure the poll body that the government respected its constitutional status and functional autonomy.

Quraishi had written to the Prime Minister after Khurshid made his controversial remarks.