The Election Commission found itself at the center of a political controversy on Monday after a letter from the poll body bearing the stamp of the BJP’s Kerala unit went viral.
The CPI(M) raised the issue on social media platform Later, Congress also responded sharply to the letter.
However, the Election Commission downplayed this, calling it a “clerical error.”
The European Commission calls it a “clerical error”
In response to the development, The Electoral Commission said the stamp on the letter was “purely a clerical error” and was “immediately corrected”.
“It has come to our attention that a letter from the Election Commission, bearing the stamp of the BJP, is being circulated across various Malayalam news channels. The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) hereby clarifies that this was just a pure clerical error, which was immediately identified and corrected,” a post by Kerala’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) on X website said.
Explaining the sequence of events, the CEO’s office said: “The Kerala BJP unit recently approached the CEO’s office seeking clarification on the 2019 guidelines regarding publication of criminal antecedents of candidates. Along with their request, the party submitted a copy of the original directive of 2019. The party’s seal was present on that particular copy submitted by them.”
“Due to an oversight, the office failed to note the party symbol on the submitted document and inadvertently redistributed it to other political parties as part of the required clarification,” she added.
The CEO’s office said corrective action was taken immediately.
“The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer acknowledged the error as soon as it was discovered. As a result, on March 21, the Deputy Chief Electoral Officer issued a formal letter retracting the erroneous document,” the statement read.
The statement added: “The withdrawal notice has been sent to all political parties, district election officials and returning officials.”
The Office of the Chief Executive called for restraint, saying: “The public and the media are requested to refrain from spreading misleading messages based on this clerical error. The Election Commission maintains a strict and foolproof system to ensure that the electoral process remains free from any external interference or influence.”
Reactions from the opposition
Earlier, in a strongly worded post, the Communist Party of India (Maoist) had said: “Has the BJP dropped all pretenses?”
“It is no secret that the same center of power seems to control both the Election Commission of India and the BJP. Even then, at least maintain the courtesy of two separate offices,” she added.
Later, the CPI(M) responded to the EC’s clarification, saying it was not an error but a “warning”.
They say “clerical error”. BJP stamp on Election Commission document – turned out to be an accidental error and was quietly withdrawn. This is a serious institutional lapse. When the line between the ruling party and the constitutional bodies begins to blur, it is not a “mistake” – it is a warning. Elections are the backbone of democracy. Even one such mistake is one too many mistakes. Who is responsible?” the party wrote on the X website.
Meanwhile, in a post on ‘X’, the Kerala unit of The Congress questioned the Election Commission over the issue, asking: “Are you working from the BJP office? How did you get access to their seals?”
“Or is it a letter from the BJP to all election officials on your letterhead? Can you explain that?” he asked.
