Mumbai: Allegations that Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are operating from political party offices instead of conducting mandatory door-to-door verification during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls have sparked a political row in Maharashtra. Opposition parties accuse the ruling alliance of influencing the exercise, while the BJP insists the camps are only meant to help voters complete the process.
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The dispute has spread across Nanded, Nashik, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Kalyan-Dombivli, with opposition leaders accusing the ruling alliance of influencing the voter verification exercise.
In Nanded, Youth Congress chief Balaji Gade-Patil alleged that BJP-run camps were functioning at tehsil and urban centres and that voters were being asked to visit these locations instead of being verified at home. He claimed the process could lead to the deletion of nearly 10% of voters in each assembly constituency.
Nirbhay Bano Andolan convener Sandip Baradkar echoed the allegations, saying that the camps violated Election Commission guidelines requiring BLOs to conduct door-to-door verification.
Rejecting the allegations, former chief minister Ashok Chavan said BLOs continued to conduct door-to-door verification and that political parties had merely opened facilitation centres for voters who could not complete the enumeration process during home visits.
In Nashik, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Vasant Gite alleged that Dalit and Muslim voters were particularly vulnerable to deletion and claimed opposition booth-level agents were being denied adequate access to voter information. He said the issue had been taken up with the district collector.
A similar controversy broke out in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar after BLOs were found operating from an AIMIM office. Former MP Imtiaz Jaleel defended the arrangement, saying political parties across the spectrum had provided office space because BLOs were finding it difficult to cover every household.
However, defending the exercise, BJP leader and OBC minister Atul Save said working from fixed locations did not compromise the process as electoral roll revisions undergo several levels of scrutiny before names are deleted.
In Kalyan-Dombivli, Shiv Sena (UBT) alleged BLOs were functioning from BJP corporators’ offices and announced a protest against the alleged irregularities.
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A senior Congress leader admitted that elected representatives from multiple parties had made their offices available to BLOs in Mumbai to distribute forms and collect documents, saying it helped voters and officials alike. However, the leader also alleged that ruling parties enjoyed a political advantage because of their greater organisational resources.
“The ruling parties have greater political and financial resources, giving them an upper hand in using the SIR machinery to their advantage,” the leader alleged.
The SIR exercise is being carried out in the state since June 30 to verify voters’ nationality. The enumeration is scheduled to conclude on August 8.
