EC circular with BJP seal? Poll panel calls it ‘clerical error’ in clarification | India News

D Election Commission A clerical error has been blamed for circulating a letter from the EC with the BJP seal. Issuing a formal clarification, the EC said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) submitted a document with the party seal as part of a clarification regarding the 2019 guidelines on disclosure of criminal antecedents of candidates. It said that due to office oversight, the same document was sent to other parties for the same explanation.The response came in the form of an affidavit attached to a letter dated March 19, 2019, which was circulated to political parties in Kerala with the seal of the BJP. CPI(M) Kerala shared the photo of the letter, as it alleged that the EC is controlled by the same political forces. It also added a snarky comment that the team should at least have “the courtesy to maintain separate desks”.The CPI(M), posted on X, said, “Has the BJP dropped all pretenses? It is no secret that the same power center controls both the Election Commission of India and the BJP. Still, at least maintain the courtesy of two separate desks. Now, even that seems redundant.”It further commented on the BJP’s seal in the affidavit and compared the incident to an old allegation of EVM tampering, saying, “Seals are being randomly swapped. BJP’s seal on Election Commission letters! Just like the old allegation – lotus appears no matter which button you press – here comes another ‘coincidence’. Shouldn’t anyone be paying attention?”It also added proper verification of the incident and said, “The document has been received by multiple parties. It has been cross-verified with at least two of the recipients. It has also been confirmed that the email is from an official Election Commission source.”In response to the post, the Election Commission has issued an official clarification on the matter. It says it admits the error in circulation was due to a clerical error. It said, “It has come to our notice that a letter from the Election Commission bearing the seal of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is being circulated in various Malayalam news channels. The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) hereby clarifies that this was purely a clerical error, which was immediately identified and corrected.“It gave a full account of the incident, saying, “The BJP Kerala unit recently approached the CEO’s office seeking clarification on the 2019 guidelines on disclosure of criminal antecedents of candidates. Along with their request, the party has submitted a photocopy of the original 2019 guidelines.” That particular copy given by them had the seal of the party.”“Due to an oversight, the office failed to note the party symbol in the submitted document and inadvertently redistributed it to other political parties as part of the requested clarification. The guidelines in question have been amended since 2019, which has already been communicated to all political entities,” it added.According to the statement, the Deputy CEO withdrew the erroneous document along with a formal letter.“The office of the Chief Electoral Officer admitted the error as soon as it was discovered. Consequently. On March 21, the Deputy Chief Electoral Officer issued a formal letter to withdraw the erroneous document. The notice of withdrawal has been sent to all political parties, District Election Officers and Returning Officers.”It calls for refraining from spreading further confusion and asserts that the commission is free from outside interference. “The public and the media are requested to refrain from spreading misleading messages based on this clerical error. The Election Commission maintains a strict and foolproof system to ensure that the electoral process is free from any external interference or influence,” it said.Kerala is set to go to polls in a single phase on April 9, while counting is scheduled on May 4.