3,400 Voter Forms Found at Kharghar Xerox Shop, Five BLOs Suspended
· India · Indian Express, Times of India
Raigad District Collector Kishan Jawale suspended five Booth Level Officers and registered a case against one Suraj Patil under the Representation of the People Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita after 3,400 Special Intensive Revision (SIR) voter enumeration forms from the Panvel Assembly constituency were found at a photocopy shop in Sector 19, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai. An inspection showed the forms belonged to 11 polling stations, with the bulk coming from five stations. Shiv Sena (UBT) office-bearer Balesh Bhojane alleged links to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) youth wing members, a claim denied by BJP leader and Panvel Municipal Corporation Mayor Nitin Patil. NCP-SP MLA Rohit Pawar called the suspensions inadequate and accused the BJP of using the SIR process to influence elections.
Why it matters
The recovery of thousands of voter forms from a private shop in Maharashtra has triggered a criminal case and political firestorm, putting the credibility of the SIR exercise and the BJP's handling of electoral rolls in Panvel directly under question.
Read the original report — Indian Express
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