MUMBAI, Nov 19:
The Bahujan Vikas Aghadi on Tuesday accused BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde of distributing Rs five crore to woo voters, a day before the Maharashtra assembly elections, a claim the BJP leader denied, saying he was merely guiding party workers on poll procedures.
Videos of the “cash distribution”, many of them shot by BVA members who barged into the hotel room where Tawde was present, went viral, after which police registered two FIRs against Tawde and around 250 BJP workers in connection with the alleged cash distribution at the hotel in Virar, 60 km from Mumbai.
While the first FIR against Tawde is for violation of the election Model Code of Conduct “by distributing cash and liquor”, the second FIR against him is for violation of Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act, an official said.
Section 126 stipulates that no person shall convene, hold, attend, join or address any public meeting or procession in connection with an election during the period of 48 hours before the polling ends.
BVA leader Hitendra Thakur said his party supporters found Tawde with the cash at the hotel, a day after election campaigning ended.
“I was informed by a BJP leader that he (Tawde) has come to distribute this huge cash. I could not believe that such a key national functionary of that party will do so, but sadly it turned out to be true,” Thakur told a Marathi news channel.
“In the hotel today, cash, diaries and laptops (related to the alleged cash distribution) were recovered. The diaries mentioned names and the amount given to them,” Thakur said.
A viral video showed BVA party supporters barging into the Virar hotel room and flinging bundles of cash at Tawde’s face, before police escorted him out.
Tawde issued a statement, seeking a probe by the Election Commission into the incident and also demanded that the CCTV footage of the hotel be made public. The BVA, however, said the hotel management had switched off the CCTV system.
The incident took place a day before polling in Nallasopara assembly constituency, where BVA MLA and Thakur’s son Kshitij is pitted against BJP’s Rajan Naik.
Hitendra Thakur said BVA members received information about Tawde conducting a meeting at the hotel in Manvelpada area, where Naik and local BJP leaders were present.
Some BVA workers alleged that they witnessed Tawde distributing money to attendees.
The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) slammed Tawde and the BJP, accused the saffron party of indulging in “cash-for-votes” and “note jihad”, along with misusing Government machinery and engaging in corrupt practices.
Amid claims by BVA leaders that Rs five crore cash was distributed, an election official said Rs 9.93 lakh cash was recovered from the hotel rooms.
A police official said two FIRs have been registered at the Tulinj police station in connection with incidents linked to the hotel where the alleged cash distribution took place.
After the ruckus of over three hours at the hotel, it was decided that a joint press conference of Hitendra Thakur, his son Kshitij, Tawde and BJP’s candidate Rajan Naik would be held at the hotel. However, as the press conference started, it was stopped by poll officials stating that it is illegal to hold one. (PTI)
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