On Friday, Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) national general secretary Vinod Tawde issued a defamation notice to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, opposition leader Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha and party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate, in response to accusations that he was providing money to voters.
According to media reports, Tawde’s lawyer submitted a legal notice to the three Congress leaders threatening to sue them for ₹100 crore unless they apologized. According to PTI, Tawde has demanded a complete apology and threatened to bring criminal and civil charges against them for defaming him if they do not.
Regarding the incident, Rahul Gandhi has criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stating, “Modiji, from whose SAFE did these 5 crores come? Who sent you in the tempo after embezzling the public’s money?”
Mallikarjun Kharge, the leader of the Congress, also criticized Prime Minister Modi over the matter, claiming that the party leader is being “caught red-handed” with ₹5 crores in cash while the prime minister pledges to keep Maharashtra “SAFE” with money and force.
Cash-for-votes row
A day before Maharashtra’s 288 constituencies cast their votes to choose its new government, the cash-for-votes controversy broke out.
Hitendra Thakur, a leader of Bahujan Vikas Aghadi, claimed on November 19 that Vinod Tawde, a senior BJP leader, gave money to voters in a Palghar district constituency.
On social media, a rumored video of a confrontation between Tawde and BVA executives and employees has been shared.
“Some BJP leaders informed me that BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde is coming to Virar to disburse ₹5 crore to influence voters. I thought a national leader like him would not stoop to such a trivial task. But I saw him here. I urge the Election Commission to take action against him and the BJP,” PTI quoted Thakur as saying.
The BVA lawmaker said that Tawde was staying at a hotel with closed CCTV.
“The hotel administration seems to be in cahoots with Tawde and the BJP. They only activated their CCTV after we requested it. Tawde was distributing money to manipulate voters,” he said.
Vinod Tawde denied the claims
Vinod Tawde denied the allegations of bribery against him, saying, “A meeting of Nalasopara MLAs was underway.” I went there to inform them of the Model Code of Conduct for the voting day, the procedure for sealing the voting machines, and what to do in the event that an objection needs to be raised.
“Appa Thakur, Kshitij, and the party’s employees (Bahujan Vikas Aghadi) believed that we were disbursing cash. Allow the police and election commission to investigate and obtain CCTV evidence. For forty years, I have been a part of the party. Everyone in the party knows me, even Appa Thakur and Kshitij. Still, I believe that the Election Commission should conduct an impartial probe,” ANI reported Tawde as adding.
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