Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition of Lok Sabha
Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition of Lok Sabha

During the Maharashtra elections, BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde sent a legal notice on Friday to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, and party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate for their alleged involvement in the ‘cash for vote’ case. Tawde reiterated that he is not involved in the alleged ‘cash for vote’ case.

Senior BJP official Vinod Tawde expressed deep distress over the accusations from Congress leaders. He alleged that Congress officials purposely spread false information to tarnish his and BJP’s reputation right before the Maharashtra elections.

Vinod Tawde stated that just before the Maharashtra assembly elections on November 19, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, and party spokesperson Supriya accused him of being found distributing Rs 5 crore at a hotel in Nalasopara constituency. Making up lies about me has become a habit for him. The Election Commission and the police did not discover anything.

The BJP leader refuted the accusations against him by stating, “I have been involved in politics for four decades and hail from a regular family.” You attempted to slander that employee… They have purposefully attempted to tarnish my reputation. Today, I have sent a notice to those three individuals, stating that they must publicly apologize to me or face consequences.

Workers from Bahujan Vikas Aghadi caused chaos outside a hotel in Nalasopara assembly constituency of Palghar while BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde was holding a meeting inside. Bahujan Vikas Aghadi legislator Kshitij Thakur and his supporters alleged that the BJP was giving out cash.

Nonetheless, regarding the accusation of handing out money, Vinod Tawde claimed that he was simply traveling through that vicinity when party member Rajan Naik invited him for tea at a hotel and he accepted. There were around 200-250 booth in-charges present at that moment. While this was happening, Hitendra Thakur and his son Kshitij were alleged to have handed out cash, causing chaos among their party supporters. Also discovered in the hotel were 10 lakh rupees during this time. After the video of the event became popular online, a First Information Report was filed against Tawde and others. The issue is currently being looked into.