BJP seal on Kerala CEO letter: Election Commission says 'clerical error'; Congress, CPM raise red flags
‘Fake news’, says BJP leader Amit Malviya
The Election Commission on Monday rushed to dismiss as a clerical error the presence of BJP seal on an official letter issued by Chief Electoral Officer Kerala.
The letter went viral on social media, after which the CEO Kerala issued a clarification calling the presence of the BJP seal an oversight and a clerical faux pas.
The opposition Congress and the ruling CPM in Kerala, however, questioned the EC and the BJP saying “the pretence has been dropped.”
Congress leader Pawan Khera asked if the BJP won Lok Sabha polls also due to a similar clerical error.
The CEO earlier said, “The BJP Kerala unit had recently approached the CEO’s office seeking clarification on the 2019 guidelines regarding the publication of criminal antecedents of candidates. Along with their request, the party submitted a photocopy of the original 2019 directive. 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 guidelines in question have undergone revisions since 2019, which have already been communicated to all political entities,” Kerala CEO said.
The clarification added that on March 21, Deputy Chief Electoral Officer issued a formal letter withdrawing the erroneous document.
BJP leader Amit Malviya said, “This is a fake news. The document being circulated is from 2019. It’s available on the CEO Kerala website and yet the Congress is spreading misinformation.”
