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BJP legislator booked for 'vote twice' remark

She had made the statement while campaigning for Vichare on April 13.

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BJP legislator from Belapur assembly seat Manda Mhatre sparked a row after she requested voters to cast their ballots twice in favour of the sitting MP and Shiv Sena nominee Rajan Baburao Vichare from Thane Lok Sabha constituency. A case in this regard has been registered against Mhatre for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) under the 171-D and 171-F of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in the Kopar Khairane police station. She had made the statement while campaigning for Vichare on April 13.

Mhatre's appeal to voters reminiscences of a controversy stoked by the former union minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar when he asked the Mathadi workers – head load carriers – who work in the APMC market in Navi Mumbai to vote twice after wiping off the indelible ink on their finger.

He dismissed it as a remark made in "lighter vein".

However, the Election Commission took serious note of Pawar's appeal to the voters. In its order issued in April 2014, it had asked the NCP chief "to be careful in future to ensure that by words/conduct you do not violate the Model Code of Conduct".

Speaking to DNA, Mhatre said, "I am yet to receive the notice." However, in her defence, she said that her intention was to create awareness on the importance of casting vote.

NCP nominee and former MP Anand Paranjape said that Mhatre's call clearly shows that the saffron alliance candidate Rajan Vichare is rapidly losing grounds in the Thane constituency. ''Due to Vichare's dismal performance, campaigning for him has proved to be a difficult task for Shiv Sena and BJP,'' he noted.

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