A fresh controversy has erupted after Congress appointed state CEO Rathan U Kelkar as secretary to Chief Minister VD Satheesan. The BJP and the CPI(M) accused the Congress of "hypocrisy", citing its previous criticisms of similar appointments made by the other governments.

The CPI(M) alleged that the appointment raises serious questions over the credibility of the elections. Meanwhile, the BJP labelled the party as "hypocrites". Kelkar, a 2003-batch IAS officer, had supervised the recent Kerala Assembly election process as the state's CEO.

The Congress maintained that there is no politics behind the appointment and that it is the prerogative of the government. State Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said, "The appointment of Kelkar as the chief minister's secretary is the prerogative of the government. He is a competent officer, and the government has the authority to recall and appoint him. There is nothing unusual in it."

What Allegations Did CPI(M) Make

Responding to the appointment, the Marxist party's state secretariat made a hard-hitting statement, claiming that Kerala had never seen such an appointment immediately after an election. The party secretariat has also raised suspicion about whether it was a "reward" for services rendered.

The CPI(M) accused the Election Commission during the assembly polls of being "biased and suspicious" in favour of the UDF. The latest development, according to the party leaders, strengthened doubts about "planned interference" behind various controversies linked to the election process.

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The Left party referred to issues, including the alleged appearance of a BJP seal instead of the Election Commission's seal in a communication to political parties, large-scale deletion of voters under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, delay in releasing polling percentage figures and complaints regarding strong rooms. The Communist Party (M) then claimed that the BJP and Congress are both blurring the lines of credibility in the EC.

Senior CPI(M) leader and ex-minister P. Rajeev, therefore, asked the Congress national leadership for an explanation on appointing the Chief Electoral Officer as the Chief Minister's secretary in Kerala.

What Did The BJP Say?

Senior BJP leader K. Surendran accused the Congress of double standards in matters concerning appointments involving election officials.

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"In West Bengal, when the BJP did the same, it was described as a reward for vote theft. But in Kerala, when VD Satheesan does this, it becomes the beauty of democracy. Rahul Gandhi and company are the biggest hypocrites," Surendran wrote on X.

Earlier, Gandhi had then alleged collusion between the BJP and the Election Commission and remarked that "the bigger the theft, the bigger the reward".