Mid-storm over the cash-for-votes charge, BJP General Secretary Vinod Tawde lashed out at the Congress party and accused it of spreading canards and lies for scoring political points in the Assembly elections. He also slapped a legal notice to the Congress top brass including Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Supriya Shrinate, claiming that they were plotting to malign his reputation.
Speaking to IANS, Maharashtra School Education and Sports Minister Vinod Tawde said, "A day before the Maharashtra Assembly elections, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, and spokesperson Supriya Shrinate allegedly claimed that I was distributing Rs 5 crore in a hotel in Nalasopara to the voters. These false allegations were done in the press conferences and on social media platform X.
However, when the police and the Election Commission investigated, they found no such amount or evidence," he added.
Criticism also came his way against the Congress party as he pointed out, "It is Congress habit to say lie. Being in the service since more than 40 years and a son of Dalit who has come up in life, I think such falsehood being invented against my person and against my party is unacceptable. Therefore, I have served them a legal notice today demanding a public apology. If they do not, I will take further legal steps."
In the notice, Tawde has sought a public apology from the Congress leaders or proceed to court.
Earlier, Rahul Gandhi took a jibe at him, the saffron party as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the scandal.
"Modiji, from whose SAFE did these 5 crores come? Who looted the public's money and sent you in the tempo?" the Lok Sabha LoP said in a post on X.
Congress president Kharge, also accused PM Modi of making Maharashtra "SAFE" through money power and muscle power.
"On one hand, there's a deadly attack on the former Home Minister of the state, on the other hand, a senior BJP leader is caught red-handed with Rs 5 crore in cash," he said on X.
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