Kerala Election 2026: ‘BJP’s seal’ on Election Commission’s letter! There was a stir in Kerala politics, CEO said ‘clerical mistake’

Thiruvananthapuram: Amidst the excitement of Kerala Assembly elections 2026, an incident has come to light which has raised big questions on the impartiality of the Election Commission. There was a stir on Monday (March 23) when an official letter issued by the Election Commission (ECI) was found to have the seal of the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) instead of the Election Commission. After this lapse, the ruling CPI-M (CPI-M) and the opposition Congress have opened the front alleging ‘collusion’ between the Election Commission and the BJP. How was the secret revealed? CPI(M) shared the document on social media. This controversy became public when CPI(M) shared a copy of the affidavit attached with a letter dated March 19 on its official social media handle. The shocking thing was that where there should have been the official seal of the Election Commission, the seal of ‘Kerala BJP’ was there. The CPI(M) sarcastically asked, “Has the BJP given up all pretense now? The same power center is controlling the Election Commission and the BJP, at least maintain the formality of two separate desks.” Opposition parties’ attack: “Press any button, only a lotus comes out.” The CPI(M) alleged that this document was sent to several political parties through email from an official source. The party compared this to the old allegations about EVMs and said that it was a coincidence similar to the saying that “No matter which button you press, a lotus emerges.” Congress has also expressed strong objection to this matter, calling it dangerous for democracy and has demanded a high-level investigation.[Image reflecting the controversial letter with BJP seal versus the official Election Commission seal]Kerala CEO’s clarification: “It is just a clerical error” Seeing the controversy increasing, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Kerala Ratan U. Kelkar issued an official statement giving clarification. He clarified that this was purely a ‘clerical mistake’ which was immediately rectified as soon as it came to his notice. The Election Commission said that the notice of return of the erroneous document has been sent to all the political parties and District Election Officers. Major action: Assistant Section Officer (ASO) suspended Considering the seriousness of the matter, the Kerala Election Commission has adopted a strict stance. The Commission said that the Assistant Section Officer (ASO) handling the concerned file has been suspended with immediate effect till the completion of the investigation. The Commission is trying to find out how the political party’s seal reached the government office and how it got affixed on the official letter. How did this major mistake happen? According to Kerala CEO Kelkar, the Kerala unit of BJP had recently sought clarification on the 2019 guidelines related to the criminal history of candidates. During this process, there is said to be exchange of seals during the movement of files. However, the opposition parties are not satisfied with this explanation and are continuously attacking the functioning of the Election Commission.