Dehra Dun:  Days after he was blamed for a shoe attack on Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, comes an appeal from Baba Ramdev.

"Don't hurl shoes or slippers at politicians. If you don't like them, vote them out democratically." This is the yoga guru's appeal to voters in five states going to the polls.

On Monday, a shoe was thrown at Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi while he was campaigning in Uttarakhand. The shoe fell a few metres short of Mr Gandhi but it was enough for senior party leader Digvijaya Singh to blame Ramdev for the incident, saying he spearheaded all such disruptions. Ramdev, however, denied the charge and said that he had taught his supporters to be tolerant and peaceful.

The yoga guru, who is set to address public meetings in connection with the elections, said in a statement that voters needed to exercise their vote -- "the weapon of democracy".

He frowned upon the tendency of some people to throw shoes or slippers at political leaders.

Ramdev has himself been the target of a public attack, though it was not a shoe which was hurled at him. A man threw black ink at him while he was addressing a press conference on January 14. The man, who runs an NGO, was reportedly beaten up by Baba Ramdev's supporters. The yoga guru had blamed the Congress for the attack.

Assembly elections will be held in Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Goa between January 28 and March 3. The results will be out March 4.

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