A controversy erupted in Navi Mumbai’s Kharghar after bundles of enumeration forms from the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process at the Panvel Assembly constituency were found at a photocopy shop. As many as 3,400 SIR forms were found at the private shop, prompting authorities to register a case.

Raigad District Collector Kishan Jawale suspended five Booth Level Officers (BLOs), pending disciplinary proceedings, and said on Friday that a case has been registered against one Suraj Patil under the Representation of the People Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Taking serious note of this matter, Jawale rushed to the office of Sub-Divisional Officer Pawan Chandak in Panvel on Friday.

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The matter came to light after complainants reported that SIR applications were being photocopied at a Xerox centre in Sector 19, Kharghar, and a youth named Suraj Patil was in unauthorised possession of these forms.

Following this complaint, the Electoral Registration Officer sent Assistant Electoral Registration Officers to the concerned photocopy center, where they learned that Suraj Patil had brought 3,400 applications to this center.

The inspection revealed that the SIR forms found at the Xerox shop belonged to 11 polling stations. Scrutiny showed that the majority of these applications were from five polling stations, while only single copies were from six stations.

After the discovery of the SIR forms, Balesh Bhojane, an office-bearer of the Shiv Sena (UBT), demanded to know how these forms filled out by general voters reached private individuals.

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He alleged that office-bearers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) youth wing were connected to this incident.

However, Panvel Municipal Corporation Mayor and BJP leader Nitin Patil claimed that party workers had no connection with this matter.

Opposition NCP-SP MLA Rohit Pawar has said that suspension of BLOs was not enough. “The incident has exposed how the entire SIR process has been carried out. We have been telling that the BJP is using this process to ensure its poll victory and this incident proves us right,” he said.