‘No error, it’s a warning’: Furore in Kerala over EC letter with BJP seal even as CEO suspends official

Letter, dated 19 March 2019, had guidelines on candidate disclosure rules, was sent to all parties in Kerala. EC said it was a ‘clerical error’ & that the letter had already been withdrawn.

File photo of Nirvachan Sadan | Grab of the EC letter with Kerala BJP seal at bottom left | ThePrint, X

Thiruvananthapuram: The poll-bound state of Kerala witnessed an unusual controversy Monday with the appearance of the seal of BJP’s Kerala unit on an official Election Commission communication to political parties. The matter has invited strong reactions from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Congress, who have questioned if the election body can be trusted.

Maintaining that it was a “pure clerical error” and that the letter had already been withdrawn, the Election Commission has suspended an officer at the state Chief Electoral Officer’s office.

The letter, dated 19 March 2019, carried guidelines on candidate disclosure rules and was sent to all political parties in election-bound Kerala this month. The issue came to light Monday after the CPI (M) took to social media to allege that multiple parties had received the same letter from ECI’s official address.

“We have often heard claims that, no matter which button is pressed on a voting machine, the lotus lights up. But this is the first time it appears as if the BJP and the Election Commission are using the same seal,” a post on CPI(M) Kerala’s X account read.

On Tuesday, the party reacted to the suspension of the officer and called the issue a “serious institutional lapse”.

“When the line between the ruling party and constitutional bodies begins to blur, it is not an ‘error’—it is a warning,” it posted.

“Clerical error,” they say.
A BJP seal on an Election Commission document – reduced to a casual mistake and quietly withdrawn.
This is a serious institutional lapse.
When the line between the ruling party and constitutional bodies begins to blur, it is not an “error” – it is a… pic.twitter.com/Dbbuqw15pV

— CPI(M) Kerala (@CPIMKerala) March 24, 2026

After the row erupted Monday, the poll body said that Kerala BJP had approached the ECI seeking clarification of the guidelines regarding the publication of criminal antecedents of candidates, along with which they had submitted a photocopy of the 2019 directive. The photocopy had the party’s symbol, it said.

“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,” it claimed, adding that the office of the CEO had issued a formal letter withdrawing the document on 21 March.

Congress’s Kerala unit slammed the Election Commission, asking if it was “operating out of BJP’s office”.

“How did you get access to their seals? Or is it BJP’s letter to all Electoral Officers with your letterhead? Can you explain this?” an X post by Congress’s Kerala unit read.

Can you separate BJP from ECI? Such a fine blend. pic.twitter.com/qXEasiUgvu

— Congress Kerala (@INCKerala) March 23, 2026

Kerala goes to polls on 9 April.