On Maharashtra’s election day, a significant issue erupted when retired IPS officer Ravindranath Patil’s accusations against NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule and Maharashtra Congress chairman Nana Patole for allegedly utilizing the money from the Bitcoin scam to finance elections turned into a full-fledged political dispute.
On Wednesday, Supriya Sule vehemently refuted the accusations, calling them unfounded. “I have filed a criminal case and a defamation case,” she told ANI. “Anywhere, at any time, on any platform, I am prepared to respond to his (Sudhanshu Trivedi) five questions. These accusations are wholly untrue and made up”.
Ajit Pawar, Supriya Sule’s cousin and deputy chief minister, fueled the controversy earlier in the day by claiming to have recognized Sule’s voice in the alleged audio clips that Ravindra Patil had used as proof. He pledged a comprehensive probe into the incident. “I can recognize the voices in the audio clips based on their tone. My sister is one of them, and I have a long history of working with the other. An investigation will be carried out, and the truth will be revealed,” Ajit Pawar stated in a media interview.
Supriya Sule responded to Ajit Pawar’s comments by dismissing his assertions, joking, “He is Ajit Pawar; he can say anything. Hari Ram Krishna”.
Despite the accusations, Sule and her family appeared confident as they cast their ballots at a Baramati polling station.
“Baseless accusations”
Sule addressed claims that she was involved in the “bitcoin scam” connected to the Maharashtra assembly elections on Tuesday. Sule declared that she was willing to have a public conversation with any BJP official at any time and location of their choosing.
Sule posted on X, “I deny all the allegations levelled against me by Sudhanshu Trivedi. All this is conjecture and innuendo, and I am ready for a debate with any representative of the BJP at a time and date of their choice, in a public forum”.
On Tuesday, Baramati MP and Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole was the target of grave accusations from Ravindranath Patil.
According to Ravindranath Patil, the two stole bitcoins from a cryptocurrency scam case in 2018 and used them to finance the Maharashtra assembly election.
The BJP swiftly capitalized Patil’s accusation and released alleged voice notes shortly after, claiming that Supriya Sule and Nana Patole conspired to cash Bitcoins to sway the election.
The development has “unmasked” the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), according to BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi, who also called for responses from Sule and the Congress.
On election night, however, Sule claimed that these were “familiar tactics of spreading false information to manipulate the righteous voters.” She also complained to the Maharashtra cybercrime department and the Election Commission of India about what she described as false claims of bitcoin theft. Gaurav Mehta, a witness in the 2018 case, and Patil are the targets of her complaint.
A criminal and civil defamation notice will be sent to Sudhanshu Trivedi by the Baramati MP’s attorneys, she added.
“It’s appalling that such baseless allegations are made by Mr Sudhanshu Trivedi, yet not surprising as it’s a clear case of spreading false information, the night before elections. My lawyer will be issuing a criminal & civil defamation notice against Sudhanshu Trivedi for making outrightly false allegations with an intent to deceive the public at large,” Sule wrote on X.
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