BJP Seal on Election Commission Letter: Officer Suspended; Allegations of ‘Saffronisation’ of the Commission

Thiruvananthapuram: The Election Commission has taken action over an incident in which the seal of the BJP was affixed to an official letter sent to political parties. The Assistant Section Officer who emailed the letters has been suspended pending investigation. The action was taken by State Chief Electoral Officer Rathan U. Khelkar.

The BJP seal appeared in an email sent to political parties on the afternoon of the 22nd of this month, explaining the 2019 election rules. Criticism erupted after the letter, which contained the seal of the BJP Kerala unit instead of the Election Commission’s seal, was received.

An old letter containing the 2019 guidelines was mistakenly sent again. At the bottom of this letter, the seal of the BJP Kerala State Committee was affixed. The Commission stated that the incident was a technical error and that they had not noticed the BJP seal on the letter. Officials also said that the mistake has since been corrected following the controversy.

M. V. Jayarajan said that this is evidence of the Election Commission turning into a tool of the Central government, and that the BJP’s attempts to bring the Commission under its control pose a threat to democracy. With the revelation of this incident, the credibility of the Central Election Commission is being questioned.