A week after the Election Commission let him off with a mild warning for his controversial “erase ink, vote twice” remark, NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday landed in fresh trouble as a Thane-based public interest litigant moved the Bombay High Court seeking action against him demanding that the lok Sabha voting be held on the same day in Satara, Navi Mumbai and Mumbai.
Social activist Pravin Wategaonkar made a mention of this before a HC division bench of Justices AS Oka and Amjad Sayed which has posted the case for hearing on Thursday.
Addressing a rally of Mathadi workers in Navi Mumbai on March 23, Pawar had asked the migrant workers based in Mumbai’s satellite city and surrounding areas to go back to their native town of Satara in western Maharashtra and cast their vote first for his party on April 17 and then exercise their franchise in favour of his party on April 24, after erasing the ink applied on their index fingers earlier.
“In 2009, the polling in Satara and Mumbai was on the same day, and you went to your hometowns. But, this time the polling in Satara is on April 17, and in Mumbai on April 24. So, you can vote for the clock (NCP symbol) in Satara and then come to Mumbai and do it again. Just do not forget to erase the ink.”
In effect, he had suggested to the migrant workers to take advantage of the multi-phased lok Sabha elections in the State.
Though Pawar had clarified later that whatever he had said earlier at a Navi Mumbai rally was in a lighter vein and had not asked the voters to indulge in any malpractice, his initial remarks caused a major furore in the State political circles.