A political row erupted after a letter from the Election Commission of India (ECI) bore the seal of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Kerala unit, drawing reactions from the Congress and the CPI(M). The issue was flagged by the CPI(M), which shared an affidavit attached to a letter dated March 19, 2019 sent to political parties, and carrying BJP Kerala seal, instead of that of the poll body.
As the row erupted, the Election Commission said that it was a “clerical error” which had been “rectified immediately.”
In a late evening post on
Earlier, in a strongly worded post, the CPI(M) said, “Have all pretenses been dropped by the BJP?”
It further said, “It is no secret that the same power center seems to control both the Election Commission of India and the BJP. Even then, at least maintain the courtesy of two separate desks.”
The party alleged, “Seals are being casually swapped. A BJP seal on an Election Commission letter!” and remarked, “Just like the old allegation – that no matter which button you press, the lotus appears – here comes another ‘coincidence.’”
The party also claimed that the document was received by “multiple parties” and “cross-verified with at least two of the recipients.” It added that the email originated from an official Election Commission source.
What Election Commission said
Responding to the controversy, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Kerala, issued an official clarification on
The CEO’s office said, “The BJP Kerala Unit had recently approached the CEO’s office seeking clarification on the 2019 guidelines regarding the publication of criminal antecedents of candidates. Along with their request, the party submitted a photocopy of the original 2019 directive. The party’s seal was present on that specific copy provided by them.”
It added, “Due to an oversight, the office failed to notice the party symbol on the submitted document and inadvertently redistributed it to other political parties as part of the requested clarification.”
It said that the action was taken immediately.
“The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer acknowledged the lapse as soon as it was detected. Consequently, on March 21, the Deputy Chief Electoral Officer issued a formal letter withdrawing the erroneous document,” it said, adding, “The withdrawal notice was dispatched to all political parties, District Election Officers, and Returning Officers.”
