Mumbai: After the Returning Officer for Chandivali constituency forwarded the complaint of model code of conduct violation by MLA Dilip Lande to Dhanaji Hirlekar, MCC chief of constituency, the latter has given clean chit to the MLA for announcing distribution of juicer mixers to voters. Notably, Herlekar, who is the assistant municipal commissioner of L Ward, is one of the co-accused along with Lande in Pressure Cooker Scam.
On October 30, the Chandivali Citizens Welfare Association (CCWA), posted on social media, a video of Lande announcing distribution of juicer mixers to women, and alleged violation of model code of conduct by the MLA.
Advocate Nikhil Kamble, the complainant in Rs 12.50 Cr Pressure Cooker Scam also wrote to the Maharashtra chief electoral officer and based on these complaints, the state chief electoral officer asked the district election officer to look into the matter and take immediate action.
According to the protocol, the complaint was forwarded to MCC nodal officer then to the returning officer of Chandivali constituency and then to the assistant returning officer. However, the series of events turned bizarre as the complaint was later forwarded to Dhanaji Hirlekar, the MCC chief of Chandivali constituency and the AMC of L ward. Hirlekar, who is also a co-accused in the Pressure Cooker Scam, has given clean chit to MLA Lande.
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The Free Press Journal has been requesting Kalpana Gode, deputy collector of Wardha who has been deputed as the returning officer for Chandivali constituency and her assistant returning officer Dilip Ryanvar to provide information about the action taken against Lande but both the officers have been saving themselves from sharing any information about the issue.
However, The Free Press Journal accessed the reply from Hirlekar where he gave clean chit to MLA Lande. Replying to the complaint, Hirlekar said, “In his speech, MLA has announced to distribute juicer mixers through BMC on Bhaidooj after the model code of conduct is lifted, which is not the Bhaidooj during the code of conduct. Therefore there is no violation of the model code of conduct in this matter.”
Notably, Hirlekar while giving a clean chit to Lande also added in his reply that the latter, “Did not claim to distribute the juicers on his own and has said that he will get it done through the municipal corporation.” However, in the video, Lande can be clearly heard saying that, “As a mark of respect I will give juicer mixers through the medium of municipal corporation as per my promise.”
Hirlekar also added that Lande had requested money from the chief minister to distribute juicer mixers in July after which the funds were allocated through the district collector’s office. He added that the efforts for the distribution were started before the model code of conduct was implemented while the distribution is still pending.
While the retuning officer and the assistant returning officer have been running away from talking about the issue, Hirlekar’s clean chit to Lande has upset the complainants. The citizens of Chandivali have demanded that Hirlekar’s report should not be accepted and the inquiry should be transferred to another officer.
Mandeep Singh Makkar, founder of CCWA, said, “The MLA announced to distribute the juicer mixers after MCC is lifted but the announcement was made while MCC was in place. The sole objective of this announcement was to bribe the voters and lure them into voting for him. The ward officer was hand in glove with the MLA in the pressure cooker scam and it is absurd to see that his reply is sought for an inquiry against his friend. The inquiry should be handed over to officers who are deputed from outside the district."
