THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Electoral Officer (CEO)-Kerala Rathan U Kelkar has removed two election officials in connection with the incident in which copies of an Election Commission of India (EC) letter, bearing the seal of the state unit of the BJP, were distributed to political parties.
A Deputy CEO and a Section Officer have been relieved of their duties and repatriated to their parent departments in connection with the incident, the CEO’s office informed on Saturday.
Earlier, an assistant in the office named Jaisal P Azeez, who is an office-bearer of the pro-LDF NGO Union and who allegedly forwarded the letters, was placed under suspension.
The disciplinary action came in the wake of an inquiry conducted by Additional CEO P B Nooh. Earlier in the day, the BJP state unit had strongly objected to the incident, claiming that attempts are being made to pass it off as a mere “procedural lapse”. BJP state general secretary S Suresh had said the incident was part of a “deliberate political plot” involving sections of the state administration and poll panel officials.