EC suspends officer after BJP seal appears on official letter in Kerala

Kerala witnessed a controversy when an official Election Commission letter sent to political parties had the seal of the BJP’s Kerala unit. The Election Commission said it was a “clerical error” and suspended an officer from the Chief Election Office.

The letter, dated March 19, 2019, carried guidelines about candidate disclosure rules. It was sent to all political parties in poll-bound Kerala. The issue became public on Monday after CPI (M) shared it on social media and claimed that several parties received the same letter from the Election Commission’s official email.

The CPI (M) and Congress strongly reacted and questioned whether the election body could be trusted. They expressed concern over how a political party’s seal appeared on an official communication. 

The Election Commission later clarified that the mistake was unintentional and the letter had already been withdrawn. The Commission also took action by suspending the concerned officer while the matter is being looked into.