Congress accuses Tawde of 'distributing' money to voters in Maharashtra, attacks PM Modi

Senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing the BJP of using money power in the Maharashtra polls, after a video surfaced in which party leader Vinod Tawde is being accused of distributing money to electors in Palghar on the eve of voting.

The Congress demanded the Election Commission take immediate action against the BJP leader.

“Modi Ji wants to make Maharashtra 'safe' with 'money power' and 'muscle power'! On one hand, there is a deadly attack on the former Home Minister (Anil Deshmukh) of the state, on the other hand, a senior BJP leader is caught red-handed with Rs 5 crore in cash,” Kharge said in a post in Hindi on X.

“The public will answer this by voting tomorrow,” the Congress chief said.

Gandhi reposted a video posted by the Congress which allegedly showed money being distributed to voters in Palghar.

“Modiji, from whose SAFE did these 5 crores come from,” he asked on X.

“Who looted the public money and sent you in the tempo?” the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said, referring to Modi's comments made during the Lok Sabha elections when he accused top businessmen of sending “tempos full of money” to the Congress top brass.

Hitting back at Gandhi, BJP IT department head Amit Malviya said, “If Rs 5 crore is found, he should produce it. Ensure all CCTV footages are looked up.

In the meanwhile, after all the tamasha, BVA leader Hitendra Thakur took BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde out for lunch. In all this, Uddhav and Rahul Gandhi again come out looking like losers.”

Soon after the video of Tawde caught up in a row with Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) chief Hitendra Thakur accusing him of distributing money to voters in Palghar surfaced, Congress leader Supriya Shrinate addressed a press conference at the party headquarters and demanded that Election Commission take immediate action against the BJP leader.

“Tawde was found in Virar East of Mumbai and he is not a voter there and has no business of being there according to rules and regulations. What was he doing in a hotel with Rs 5 crore cash and a diary that has entries of Rs 15 crore? To whom was this cash being distributed? Why was this cash being distributed? Why is the EC quiet up until now?” she said.

“We have seen the money power being abused in the Maharashtra assembly polls. We have seen the kind of money that has exchanged hands. We have seen how this government came into being by stealing a popular mandate, by openly buying MLAs, which is exactly what we are seeing in motion right now. This undermines the vote of Maharashtra and the state will not take it lying down,” Shrinate said.

At her presser, she also raised the issue of the Comptroller and Auditor General allegedly instructing Maharashtra to stop the audit consisting of the performance audit, the state-specific compliance audit and the thematic audit.

“The CAG has the responsibility for auditing and making the state and the central government and enterprises accountable for every penny they spend or earn. The present CAG has been quiet and has gone into a slumber for the past 10 years. They have even refused to audit the PM CARES Fund, which has money that comes from the PSEs,” she said.

"They have denied 13 crore people of Maharashtra their right to know: How much money was spent on their projects?  What were the irregularities and the scams that took place? They ensured that the people of Maharashtra never get to know the details,” she said.

On October 9, 2023, the CAG instructed Maharashtra to stop the performance audit, the state-specific compliance audit and the thematic audit, Shrinate said.

This audit is special and sometimes, it reveals uncomfortable truths that may embarrass governments and expose scams, she said.

“Why was this audit stopped? Projects are decided in January and it takes 9-10 months for audits to be carried out. By November-December, these reports are prepared and following the final signatures of the Chief Auditor, they are tabled in the Parliament and state legislatures,” Shrinate said.

“Does Maharashtra not have the right to know the cost overruns, the irregularities and the scams? What were the uncomfortable truths that made the CAG stop the audit?” she said.