Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 | BJP targets Supriya Sule, Nana Patole over Bitcoin row

New Delhi: The BJP on Wednesday intensified its attack on Maharashtra opposition leaders Supriya Sule and Nana Patole for their alleged involvement in using Bitcoins illegally to fund elections, and claimed their roles will surface during the probe.

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra also targeted Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, and asked the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha to hold a press conference on the issue.

In a press conference, Patra rejected the opposition's claim that the BJP was behind the "conspiracy" to target them amid the Maharashtra polls as he claimed that the suspected crypto currency fraud occurred years back and the opposition alliance used the money in previous elections as well.

It appears that the money involved so far in this scam is Rs 235 crore, he claimed.

Sule has rejected the charges, including the audio records purportedly featuring her voice, as fake and said she has filed complaint with the Election Commission and the Maharashtra Police.

"Familiar tactics of spreading false information to manipulate the righteous voters," she said.

She said on X, "The intent and mala fide actors behind it are amply evident, condemn-worthy that such practices are taking place in a healthy democracy guided by the Constitution of India."

Patra claimed that the matter came to light as Gaurav Mehta, a person involved in crypto currency trade and an alleged link to this case, decided to go public because he feared danger to his life after he encashed the Bitcoins to help opposition leaders.

The BJP leader claimed that the matter has its roots in a crypto currency fraud in 2018, and a former IPS officer Ravindranath Patil, who had joined private sector and was tapped as an expert to help the investigation, ended up getting arrested for misappropriating a crypto currency wallet.

Citing Patil's comments, Patra claimed two other IPS officers were involved in the missing wallet.

Mehta had then given evidence against Patil and shared the alleged voice records of Sule and Patole, he noted.

Patra rejected the defence of Sule, claiming that every suspect says the same thing when caught.

Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

Subscribe and follow DH on Whatsapp, X, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram to never miss out on anything.