Shiv Sena corporator accused of forging caste certificate

Municipal Commissioner Sitaram Kunte has ordered the BMC legal department to verify the claims.

Shiv Sena corporator from Wadala,Alka Doke,has been accused of forging her caste validation certificate for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections held in February 2012. The complainant,National Congress Partys (NCP) Jyoti Mhatre,who contested against Dokes,moved the Bombay High Court,seeking disqualification of Doke as corporator.

Municipal Commissioner Sitaram Kunte has ordered the BMC legal department to verify the claims. The constituency under contention,Ward No 173 in Wadala (F North),is reserved for female candidates from the Backward Class.

Mhatre,who stood second to Doke in the BMC polls,stands next in line to be the corporator if Doke is removed. She alleged,My RTI query with the Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee in Pune revealed my opponent had not submitted her caste certificate for scrutiny. While her nomination papers show that she had submitted a forged certificate,there is no record of the same with the scrutiny committee. This reveals she doctored her certificate of validity (No 66584) for the elections.

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Refuting the allegations leveled by Mhatre,Doke said,I have not forged any document. I am a Hindu Mali belonging to the OBC caste. Dokes husband Hemant was the corporator of the same ward for 15 consecutive years,before she was elected last year.

Mhatre has filed a complaint with the State Election Commissioner under Section 16 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act,1888.

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