The Kerala chief electoral officer said on Tuesday that it has suspended an official in connection with a row surrounding an Election Commission letter bearing the seal of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s state unit.
An assistant section officer who dealt with the file in question has been placed under suspension pending inquiry, the chief electoral officer said in a social media post. A link to the original communication that had been sent to political parties, which did not have the seal of the BJP’s Kerala unit, was also provided.
The seal was on a letter dated March 19, 2019 sent to political parties across the country detailing norms about criminal antecedents of candidates.
The letter was sent along with an email on March 21.
After the matter came to light, the poll panel said that the letter carried the BJP seal due to a “purely clerical error”.
“The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer acknowledged the lapse as soon as it was detected,” added the chief electoral officer in Kerala. “Consequently, on March 21, the deputy chief electoral officer issued a formal letter withdrawing the erroneous document.”
The poll panel stated that the error occurred because the BJP’s Kerala unit had approached the Election Commission seeking clarification on the 2019 guidelines regarding the publication of criminal antecedents of candidates.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s Kerala unit first flagged the matter on social media on Monday afternoon.
The ruling party in the state alleged that “seals are being casually swapped” and questioned whether “all pretences” have been dropped by the BJP and the Kerala chief electoral officer.
The Congress and the Trinamool Congress also backed the CPI(M)’s allegations.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra alleged that the poll panel “finally had the courage to issue official letters” with the BJP seal.
The Congress’ Kerala unit asked the poll panel whether it was operating out of the BJP’s office, questioning how electoral officials got access to the party’s seals.
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