Mumbai : Senior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar ridiculed the accusations, stating, "Vinod Tawde is a national general secretary. Is he going to distribute money at ward levels? Such claims are absurd.

A day before Maharashtra heads for polls, political temperature soared at Virar as Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) workers gheraoed BJP General Secretary Vinod Tawde over the allegations of distributing cash to influence voters.

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"Rs 9.93 lakh have been recovered from the hotel rooms (of Tawde)," an Election Commission (EC) official said.

BJP's Response
BJP denounced the allegations branding them as false and politically motivated. Senior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar laughed it off, saying: "Vinod Tawde is national general secretary. Is he going to share money at ward levels? Such claims are absurd.".

The speech over three hours of din ended when it was announced that a joint press conference of Hitendra Thakur, his son Kshitij, Vinod Tawde and BJP's candidate Rajan Naik would take place at the hotel. However, just as the press conference began, it was halted by the EC officials, saying that holding one is illegal.
The police have filed an FIR in the case.

Hitendra Thakur, his son Kshitij and Tawde left together in a car with Tawde saying that they are going for lunch.

Meanwhile, Thakur led BVA's official candidate from Dahanu Assembly seat, Suresh Padvi, joined the BJP on Tuesday. Padvi declared his support for BJP's official candidate Vinod Mendha.

BVA claims diary references Rs 15 crore for distribution
The incident happened at a hotel in Virar, wherein BVA workers claimed Tawde was caught red-handed with cash.

BVA has alleged that there was a bag at Tawde's disposal that mentioned a diary of the particulars of the distribution of Rs 15 crore. Hitendra Thakur, BVA MLA from Vasai-Virar, claimed that Tawde had come along with Rs 5 crore in cash.

Matters took a turn for the worse with Kshitij Thakur, sitting MLA from Nalasopara and son of Hitendra Thakur, allegedly snatching the diary containing evidence of the cash distribution scam. He even questioned the attendance of Tawde in Virar on Monday evening after campaigning had officially ended.

He also pointed fingers at the non-functional CCTV cameras in the hotel. "Action should be taken against the hotel as well. The only reason why CCTV was closed down was that distribution of money was going on," said Thakur.

Commenting on the incident Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray said, "My bags were checked and told, I have come here to take the Darshan of goddess Tulja Bhavani. When I came here my bags were checked but they found nothing. I got to know from the media that cash was found in the bags of Vinod Tawde. Yesterday there was an attack on NCP leader Anil Deshmukh… Who was supposed to check all this? Hence I prayed to Goddess that soon this corrupt government should go…

HUGE: a day before Maharashtra goes to polls, major controversy.. BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde trapped and gheraoed by a BVA MLA in a hotel in Virar, accused of having a Rs 5 crores cash bag with a diary of people to whom money given is reportedly mentioned. BJP… pic.twitter.com/lyChkwJHdZ — Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) November 19, 2024