NCP MLA Prakash Solanke
Credit: X/@prakashsolnke
Beed: Prakash Solanke, the five-term NCP MLA from Majalgaon in central Maharashtra, has triggered a controversy after a viral video showed him admitting that to win elections, voters have to be offered inducements such as liquor, meat and cash.
Solanke was apparently speaking at a party workers' meeting on Monday ahead of the coming local body elections in the state.
Talking about past elections, he told the audience of party workers that they have become "experts" in getting votes out, and know which voter needs a bottle of liquor, who needs a chicken, a goat or "Laxmi Darshan" (cash) in the last two days before polling.
"It is you who have fought many of my elections....We have this experience, this expertise, which will be needed in these (local body) elections too," the MLA was heard saying.
Merely aspiring to a ticket was not enough, a candidate must possess the financial muscle to spend heavily, and if an opponent spends Rs 100, the party's candidate must be prepared to match it, he was heard saying, as the audience giggled.
Notably, this was not the first time Solanke, a veteran of electoral politics, spoke candidly about how money power plays a key role in elections. In March, he had created a stir by claiming to have spent Rs 10 crore to 12 crore during his election campaign, way above the expenditure limit set by the Election Commission, only to backtrack later.
“I wanted to say lakh, but said crore,” he had said