A day before the Maharashtra goes to the polls, political tensions escalated in Virar as Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) workers gheraoed BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde over allegations of distributing cash to influence voters.
The incident unfolded at a hotel in Virar, where BVA workers, claimed that Tawde was caught red-handed with cash.
According to the BVA, a bag in Tawde’s possession contained a diary referencing the distribution of Rs 15 crore. Hitendra Thakur, the BVA MLA from Vasai-Virar, alleged that Tawde had arrived with Rs 5 crore in cash.
The situation intensified when Kshitij Thakur, the incumbent MLA from Nalasopara and Hitendra Thakur’s son, reportedly snatched the diary containing the details of the alleged cash distribution. He questioned Tawde’s presence in Virar after campaigning had officially ended on Monday evening.
The BVA also raised concerns about the hotel’s non-functional CCTV cameras. “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,” Thakur said.
Reacting to the incident Sena UBT president Uddhav Thackeray referred to his bags being checked and said, “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…”
BJP’s Response
The BJP dismissed the allegations, terming them baseless and politically motivated. 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.”
Atul Bhatkhalkar, another BJP leader, called the allegations a “false narrative” created by opposition parties facing an imminent defeat. He added that such charges were part of a deliberate attempt to malign the BJP’s image.