the party’s national general secretary Vinod Tawde was holding a meeting with Rajan Naik, the BJP candidate in Vivanta Hotel, when BVA workers stormed into his room.

 

With a high voltage 288-member state Assembly elections set to take place in Maharashtra on Wednesday, November 20, the national general secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Vinod Tawde was caught in a soup, accused of distributing Rs 5 crore in cash to voters.

A video of the incident surfaced online and quickly went viral. The video, shot by supporters of Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA), accuses BJP leader Vinod Tawde of allegedly distributing cash for votes in the Palghar district of Maharashtra.

Tawde was holding a meeting with Rajan Naik, the BJP candidate in Vivanta Hotel when BVA workers stormed into his room.

The video shows BVA workers taking out bundles of cash from the bag while Tawde sits at a distance. Two police officials are also seen in the video.

BVA workers have alleged that Tawde carried a bag full of cash worth Rs 5 crore to be distributed among voters. However, the BJP leader strongly denied any involvement with it.

BVA chief Hitendra Thakur, while speaking to reporters said, “Some BJP leaders informed me that BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde is coming to Virar to disburse Rs 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.”

The BVA legislator alleged the hotel Tawde was staying had shut CCTV recording.

“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.

Tawde remained in the hotel for over three hours while BVA workers refused to back down.

BVA, led by Hitendra Thakur, has a strong presence in the Palgarh district with three of its MLAs in Vasai, Nalasopara, and Boisar seats. While Thakur is contesting from Vasai, his son Kshitij is standing from Nalasopara, and sitting MLA Rajesh Patil from Boisar.

BJP refutes allegations

Refuting the allegations, BJP leader and MLC Pravin Darekar said, “The MVA has already lost the game. They are destined for defeat in this election, which is why they are making such absurd allegations against us. What Thakur is doing is nothing more than a publicity stunt.”

AIMIM, Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) react

Taking a dig at the whole episode, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi asked if this was ‘vote jihad or dharma yudh’. It should be noted that these terms are commonly used by BJP and Hindutva leaders.

In an X post, Owaisi said, “Is this Vote Jihad? Dharam Yudh? Ek Hai to Safe hain,Baatenghe to …. OR Na Khaoangha Magar Main Kh…..”

 

Further, the Congress in a post on X stated that the BJP leaders were “busy influencing the elections using money,” and urged the Election Commission to take strict action against Tawde.

“BJP National General Secretary Vinod Tawde has been caught distributing money in a hotel in Maharashtra. Vinod Tawde had taken the money in a bag and was calling people there and distributing the money. When the public came to know about this news, there was a huge uproar,” the X post read.

“Many videos of Vinod Tawde with money are coming out. Voting is about to take place in Maharashtra, just before that BJP leaders are busy influencing the elections using money. This includes workers as well as big leaders. The Election Commission should take cognizance of this matter and take strict action,” the Congress added.

Taking to X, Shiv Sena Sanjay Raut said, “The BJP’s scheme has come to an end. Thakur has done what the Election Commission should have done. EC officials search our bags and scrutinise us, yet these individuals from the BJP face no such checks.”

Siasat Daily