Maha polls: EC drops case against Bandra school

The Election Commission (EC) has dropped the case against Bandra-based Rizvi Springfield High School, accused of allegedly distributing the Bharatiya Janata Party’s

The Election Commission (EC) has dropped the case against Bandra-based Rizvi Springfield High School, accused of allegedly distributing the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Jansampark Abhiyaan forms among parents while carrying out voting awareness programme. The EC said it does not have any evidence against the school, nor has any parent come forward with a complaint.

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The school had denied allegations in its reply to the notice issued by the Election Commission (EC). It claimed that it was not involved in any such activity, adding it did not campaign for any particular candidate.

A controversy was raked up on Wednesday after the school allegedly distributed BJP’s Jansampark Abhiyaan forms among parents while carrying out a voting awareness program.

The forms had the BJP logo along with photos of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and sitting legislator Ashish Shelar, who is contesting on the Bandra West seat.

Asif Zakaria of the Congress party, who is contesting on the same seat, submitted a complaint on Thursday with the returning office, demanding an investigation into the incident. Meanwhile, Shelar had maintained that this was not part of BJP’s campaign.

“We have received a reply from the school and they have denied any involvement. They said the meeting was called to appeal to people to vote and not to convey voting for any particular candidate,” said Umesh Biraari, returning officer of Bandra West.

“We do not have any evidence to act, nor has any parent come forward with a complaint or evidence. There is no information on who gave what to whom, and hence, the case has been dropped due to lack of evidence,” he said.

Director of Rizvi Education Society, Rubina Rizvi, confirmed that the school denied the allegations. “We have justified our stand and have given a satisfactory reply,” she said. There are around 2.96 lakh voters registered in the Bandra West constituency, with a large chunk of Muslim and Christian voters.