Navi Mumbai SIR Row: Thousands Of Voter Revision Forms Found At Kharghar Shop, BJP-Sena UBT Workers Clash

Thane/Mumbai, Aug 28 (PTI) Thousands of printed SIR forms were allegedly found at a photocopy shop in Navi Mumbai's Kharghar area on Friday, triggering a clash between Shiv Sena (UBT) and BJP activists, a police investigation and allegations concerning the sanctity of the voter list revision exercise.

Police seize thousands of forms

The incident occurred after Sena (UBT) workers confronted a man, who they claimed was an office-bearer of the BJP's Youth Wing, while he was allegedly getting SIR forms photocopied at a shop, police said.

Local police rushed to the scene and took the alleged BJP office-bearer into custody. Authorities also seized thousands of printed SIR forms from the premises and transferred them to the police station.

Sena (UBT) workers, meanwhile, alleged that the detained BJP youth leader managed to flee the Kharghar police station shortly after being brought in for questioning.

The local police are probing the incident, and no case has been registered so far, said a Navi Mumbai police officer.

Sena (UBT) seeks investigation

Local Sena (UBT) leader Balesh Bhojne demanded a strict investigation into how such a massive volume of official forms landed in private hands and why they were being copied en masse.

NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar, meanwhile, said the incident has raised serious questions over the transparency of the voter list revision exercise.

He alleged that the SIR exercise was being used by the BJP to lay the groundwork for its victory in future elections.

"The Kharghar incident has, in a way, confirmed our apprehensions about how the SIR exercise is being used," Pawar said.

Pawar questions action against BLOs

Pawar alleged he had sought a response from the Election Commission over the incident, but the authorities had passed the responsibility to the Election Commission of India.

He said reports indicated that four Booth Level Officers (BLOs) had been suspended in connection with the incident, but questioned whether action against the officials alone would be sufficient.

"Suspending only the BLOs is not enough. The authorities who instructed them should also be suspended, and action should be taken against the BJP workers involved," Pawar added.

He said there could be many such incidents which have not been detected, and sought a response from the Election Commission.

(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)

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