On poll eve, Tawde caught in row over 'cash-for-votes'

A huge political controversy rocked Maharashtra on Tuesday on the eve of high-stakes assembly elections after a regional outfit alleged that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary Vinod Tawde was distributing cash to voters, prompting the police to file three first information reports (FIRs) against the senior leader and the party to launch a strong defence against attacks from the Opposition.

- Yogesh Naik and Megha Sood

Tawde, a Maratha leader seen as a potential candidate for the chief minister's post, was meeting the BJP candidate from Nalasopara, Rajan Naik, at a hotel when local strongman and Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) leader Hitendra Thakur barged in with a group of about 300 supporters. Thakur's son Kshitij, a three-time lawmaker, is contesting against Naik from Nalasopara.

The BVA members, who video-recorded the protest, alleged that Tawde was at the hotel in Virar, roughly 60km from Mumbai, to give ₹5 crore to woo voters. The Election Commission's flying squad was called in and recovered ₹9.93 lakh from three rooms booked in Naik's name. In addition, the BVA members also recovered a diary from the BJP leaders' possession and alleged it held details of the money to be distributed.

Tawde denied all wrongdoing, asked the police to check CCTV footage, and demanded that the EC conduct an impartial probe. "I was on my way back from Wada in Palghar when I stopped at the hotel to meet our local candidate to ask them to take certain precautions on voting day... The entire incident is recorded on CCTV, there is no question of distributing any money, there must be an impartial inquiry," he told the media. He also said his car was checked by the EC squad and no money was recovered.