Election Commission letter with BJP seal sparks row, poll panel blames ‘clerical error’

A row erupted in Kerala on Monday after an Election Commission letter bearing the seal of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s state unit was widely circulated online on the final day for submitting nominations for the Assembly elections.

Later in the day, the poll panel stated that the letter carried the BJP seal due to a “purely clerical error”.

“The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer acknowledged the lapse as soon as it was detected,” added the Chief Electoral Officer in Kerala. “Consequently, on March 21, the deputy chief electoral officer issued a formal letter withdrawing the erroneous document.​”

OFFICIAL CLARIFICATION: REGARDING THE ERRONEOUS CIRCULATION OF ELECTION COMMISSION DOCUMENT

​ 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 across various Malayalam news channels.…— Chief Electoral Officer Kerala (@Ceokerala) March 23, 2026

The Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s Kerala unit first flagged the matter on social media on Monday afternoon. The party shared a screenshot of a March 21 email that had an affidavit attached to a March 19, 2019, letter sent to political parties in the country.

The 2019 letter detailed norms about criminal antecedents of candidates, bore a seal of the BJP’s Kerala unit and was signed...

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