Kerala Assembly Elections 2026: BJP seal on Election Commission of India letter sparks row in State
Kerala Congress shared on its ‘X’ handle a copy of a 2019, ECI letter bearing the BJP seal. Photo: X/@INCKerala
The presence of a seal of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Kerala unit on a 2019 Election Commission of India (EC) letter on poll-related guidelines, which was distributed to political parties recently, sparked a row in the State on Monday, the final day for submitting nominations for the April 9 Assembly polls in the State.
While the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] alleged that “seals are being casually swapped” and questioned whether “all pretences” have been dropped by the BJP, Chief Electoral Officer (Kerala) (CEO) Rathan U. Kelkar attributed the issue to a “clerical error” and added that corrective measures had been taken.
The CPI(M) had shared on its ‘X’ handle a copy of a March 19, 2019, EC letter bearing the BJP seal. The letter, to CEOs of all States and Union Territories ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, dealt with the EC guidelines on the publicity of criminal antecedents by political parties and candidates. Copies of the letter had been issued afresh to political parties by mistake, according to the CEO’s office.
Clerical error, says CEO
The CEO issued a clarification attributing the episode to a clerical error and asking everyone to avoid spreading the “wrong message.”
“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. 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. The guidelines in question have undergone revisions since 2019, which have already been communicated to all political entities. The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer acknowledged the lapse as soon as it was detected,” the CEO clarified.
Further to the clarification issued in the matter, an Assistant Section Officer in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer has been placed under suspension pending enquiry in this connection.
Published – March 23, 2026 07:03 pm IST
