Mumbai, Nov 20 (IANS) BJP General Secretary Vinod Tawde, who has been accused of distributing cash to influence voters in Maharashtra’s Palghar, on Wednesday thanked NCP(SP) Chief and political rival Sharad Pawar for not making any comment on the issue.
Pawar has refused to comment on the allegation saying, “Vinod Tawde is a good gentleman and I will not say anything unless the allegations against him are proven.”
Tawde, under attack from the opposition which is demanding his arrest, thanked Pawar senior. “Sharad Pawar is a mature and senior leader. He knows me personally. He also knows that I cannot be involved in such matters. Therefore, I thank him,” said Tawde.
The BJP leader has denied the allegations of distributing money in the Nalasopara-Vasai-Virar area. He said no one knew that he was going to Nalasopara on Tuesday.
“No one knew that I would go to Nalasopara. When I was leaving Wada in Palghar district, I called the BJP candidate Rajan Naik and inquired about the preparations for the polling. He called me for tea so I went there. There was no conspiracy nor any personal differences. As the opposition sees defeat, they try to take advantage of this. Police and Election Commission officials did not find any money. Sanjay Raut is lying. I didn’t even know that I was going there initially because everything was decided in just two minutes. I then went to Nalasopara. Everything is recorded from what I spoke with the party workers,” clarified Tawde in his defence.
Tawde has demanded that CCTV footage should be checked and an impartial inquiry be held in this matter.
His response came after the police lodged three FIRs in connection with cash for vote controversy.
The Bahujan Vikas Aghadi chief Hitendra Thakur and his son Kshitij Thakur had levelled allegations against Vinod Tawde for distribution of money saying that he was carrying Rs 5 crore. Hitendra Thakur also said that he had seen Tawde’s diary with a record relating to the distribution of cash.
“During the last five years, the politics in the state has stooped to a new low. Politics is marred by the distribution of money and engineering splits in families and political parties. The voters should exercise their vote by increasing turnout to elect the right candidates,” said Thakur.
Meanwhile, Tawde refuted the opposition’s charges that the cryptocurrency fraud was exposed to divert his alleged involvement in the cash-for-vote case. “Sudhanshu Trivedi (who is BJP MP) will not make allegations (against Supriya Sule and Nana Patole) unless he has concrete information. In my case, I have not been caught, and no cash has been seized. So there is no question of suppressing the matter,” he said.
(Sanjay Jog can be contacted at sanjay.j@ians.in)
–IANS
sj/dpb
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BhaskarLive.in and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of BhaskarLive.in We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, BhaskarLive.in takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.