Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 | Cash-for-vote charge against BJP's Tawde: Rahul, Uddhav lash out at Modi, saffron party

Mumbai: Allegations against BJP’s national general secretary Vinod Tawde distributing cash on the eve of Maharashtra assembly elections have snowballed into a major controversy with the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) claiming to have caught the saffron party leader red-handed while doing so.

The incident took place in the Vasai-Virar area of Palghar district - around 60 kms away from downtown Mumbai. 

BVA founder Hitendra Thakur, who is six-time MLA from Vasai and his son Kshitij Thakur, who is a three-time MLA from Nalasopara, alleged that their party colleagues and workers had seen Tawde distributing money. 

In the backdrop of the incident, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi launched yet another attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Modiji, from whose safe did the Rs 5 crore come? Who looted the public's money and sent you in the tempo,” he said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray also called out the BJP and asked if this is what they call 'note-jihad'.

The incident reportedly took place at the Le Vivanta hotel in Virar East - where the drama unfolded for around six to eight hours. 

“Some BJP leaders informed me that party general secretary Tawde had come to Virar to disburse Rs 5 crore to influence voters…we have seen huge amounts of cash, diary entries, laptop,” alleged Thakur, who is popularly known as Appa.

He, however, did not name the BJP leader who tipped off Tawde's movement from Wada to Virar with the cash. 

“I thought a national leader like him would not stoop to such a trivial task. But I saw him here…you all saw what happened, how it happened and who all were there,” Thakur said and asked the Election Commission, district administration and police to take strict action. 

The Thakur family, however said they ensured that Tawde was not harmed in any way and ensured his safe passage. “I have known Tawde for several years, Kshitij calls him kaka,” he added. 

Tawde and Thakur were jointly holding a press conference but were later stopped by the EC officials.

BJP denies allegations

The BJP leadership and Tawde denied the allegations. 

“I was conducting a meeting of party workers in Nalasopara (constituency)  to discuss the model code of conduct on the day of polls  like how EVMs are to be sealed, how to take objection…they misunderstood,” he said, adding that he is open to probe.

“The Election Commission must carry out a free and fair probe…I have been in politics for 40 years. Appa and Kshitij know me very well,” he said. 

Coming to the defence of his colleague, state BJP President Chandrashekhar Bawankule said, “Tawde is the national general secretary and will someone in that position distribute money in this way? It should be considered. As the election has gone out of hand, the opposition is defaming the BJP and Tawde. The political opponents made a film, the opponents did media management. Tawde has fallen prey to conspiracy.”

Congress general secretary Ramesh Chennithala demanded the arrest of Tawde. 

Over 9 lakh cash recovered

Palghar District Collector Govind Bodke said that as soon as they received the complaint, top officials reached the spot.

"The Election Commission team has seized Rs 9,93,500 from the spot…FIR is being registered,” he said.

An FIR was also  registered against Tawde for entering Virar 48 hours before polls as he is not a voter of the area.

Bodke said that a search of Tawde’s cars, hotel and bags is being carried out.

"Some amount of money and a few diaries have been recovered from here. Two FIRs have been registered, and a third FIR is also being lodged for holding a press conference illegally," said Pournima Chougule, Deputy Commissioner of Police.

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.

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