Kerala’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) on Monday said that the presence of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seal on an Election Commission document was “purely a clerical error” which was “identified and rectified immediately”.
The clarification came after political parties such as the CPI(M) alleged that the BJP seal on an EC document raised concerns about whether a single “power centre” was influencing both the BJP and ECI.
The BJP seal was found on a document of ECI’s guidelines regarding publication of criminal antecedents of candidates. In a statement, the Kerala CEO’s office said that the BJP’s state unit had recently approached it seeking clarification on the 2019 guidelines. Along with the request, the party had submitted a photocopy of the original directive from 2019, it said.
“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 office said.
The 2019 guidelines have been revised and such revisions have been communicated to other parties, it said. The CEO’s office acknowledged the lapse and the deputy chief electoral officer issued a formal letter withdrawing the erroneous document, it added.
{{/usCountry}}The 2019 guidelines have been revised and such revisions have been communicated to other parties, it said. The CEO’s office acknowledged the lapse and the deputy chief electoral officer issued a formal letter withdrawing the erroneous document, it added.
{{/usCountry}}“The Election Commission maintains a rigorous and foolproof system to ensure that the electoral process remains free from any external interference or influence,” it said.