New Delhi, Nov 19 (PT) The BJP on Tuesday rejected the allegation of distribution of cash to voters by one of its senior leaders in Maharashtra's Palghar, claiming the opposition camp is trying to influence the election with such "absurd" accusations sensing defeat in the state assembly polls.
This came after the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) chief Hitendra Thakur accused BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde of distributing Rs 5 crore among voters in Palghar on the eve of the Maharashtra assembly polls.
BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi termed Thakur's allegation as “laughable, baseless and absurd”, and alleged that the opposition camp is making such an accusation out of “frustration and despair” sensing their imminent defeat in the state assembly polls.
They are making a last ditch attempt to "influence the polls" by levelling such “illogical and unrestrained” allegations against the senior BJP leader, Trivedi said, adding people of the country understand their design and will give them a befitting reply in the assembly polls in Maharashtra and Jharkhand and in the by-elections in other states.
Trivedi said Tawde had gone to the hotel to attend an "indoor" organisational meeting with the party workers to discuss poll preparations when the BVA candidate "all of a sudden" reached there and started "creating controversy".
"I want to ask what was it that the opposition party candidate had come there to do? If an incident of his imagination was taking place somewhere, he should have been there at the spot," he said.
Tawde has clearly said that CCTV cameras, installed in and around the said hotel, should be checked to verify the allegation, he added.
Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, BVA MLA Thakur said, "Some BJP leaders informed me that party general secretary Tawde had come 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 the CCTV recording.
"The hotel administration seems to be in cahoots with Tawde and the BJP. They only activated their CCTV after we requested it. He was distributing money to manipulate voters," he said.
The BJP slammed Thakur accusing him of making false accusations and said an amount to the tune of Rs 5 crore is "not something that someone can carry in pocket".
“There has to be some visibility. Show it, don’t level allegations in air," BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said at a press conference at the party headquarters here.
He also took on the Congress and other constituents of the MVA, accusing them of misleading people of Maharashtra in a bid to influence elections ahead of the polling in the state.
"But people are sensible enough to understand their ploy. None of such efforts will succeed. People are set to give their mandate to the BJP-NDA, be it assembly polls in Maharashtra and Gujarat or the bypolls in other states,” he added.
Trivedi also slammed senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of levelling "baseless" allegations over the matter.
Taking a swipe at Gandhi's post on X on the issue, the BJP leader said, "When it comes to taking cash from one place to another, none other that the Congress and Rahul Gandhi can tell better about it."
"Those who are very interested in such works and have achieved perfection in these activities are trying to mislead people," the BJP spokesperson said when asked for comment on Gandhi's charge.
Purported videos of the “cash distribution”, many of them shot by BVA members who barged into the hotel hall where Tawde was present, went viral, after which police registered two first information reports about the alleged cash distribution.