An Indian cabinet minister is at the centre of a vote-rigging row after he asked supporters to vote twice for his party in elections next month.

Speaking at a rally on Sunday, the agriculture minister, Sharad Pawar, urged voters to wash off the ink that would be daubed on their fingers after casting their ballots then go to a different constituency and vote again for his Nationalist Congress party (NCP).

After pointing out that voting in two neighbouring parts of Maharashtra state was taking place on different days, Pawar told supporters in the state: "Vote for the Clock [his party's symbol] there and come back to vote for the Clock here as well." .

The comments were seized upon by rivals in the elections, which begin on 7 April, including the anti-corruption Aam Aadmi party.

The party said it would complain to the election commission over the "blatant contravention" of its code of conduct.

Pawar, an ally of the ruling Congress party who has been flirting with the main opposition Bharatiya Janata party, tried to laugh off his remarks, saying they had been meant as a joke.

"Party workers get bored with the same cliched electoral speeches. The statement which I made earlier in the day was in a lighter vein," he said.

The NCP spokesman, DP Tripathi, said he was confident the election commission would understand the comments had not been serious.

"We are confident that they are very mature and will realise the context of the statement," Tripathi told AFP.

Polls show corruption is one of the most pressing concerns for voters in the world's biggest democracy, which will hold elections for its 543-member parliament in nine phases until 12 May.