Cash-For-Vote Row: BJP Leader’s Defamation Notice Against Rahul Gandhi, Kharge

New Delhi: Accused of giving cash to secure votes ahead of election day in Maharashtra, BJP’s national general secretary Vinod Tawde on Friday sent defamation notices to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate.

The former Maharashtra minister said that the Congress leaders made “false and baseless allegations… regarding Rs 5 crore money being distributed.”

He claimed that allegations against him were made “with the sole intention of damaging the prospects of the party (the BJP) and also defaming (me)… in the eyes of right-thinking people.”

“I have sent defamation notices to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, and party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate in the false Nallasopara case… because they tried to malign my image and that of the Bharatiya Janata Party by spreading lies,” Tawde stated on X.

Demanding an apology from them, Tawde added: “The truth is before everyone… the alleged amount of Rs 5 crore was not recovered during the investigation by the Election Commission and the police. This case is proof of Congress’ low-level politics.”

He said in his legal notice that Congress leaders were “very well aware of the fact that you are publishing a totally false story… fabricated by you.”

The cash for vote row erupted on Tuesday when a regional party Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) claimed that BJP’s Nallasopara candidate Rajan Naik was distributing cash in Tawde’s presence to influence voters.

BVA leaders said envelopes full of cash were found at a hotel where Tawde and the BJP candidate were interacting with voters.

Two police cases were registered following the complaints. Tawde has been named in one of those, for campaigning during the mandated ‘silence’ period. The second FIR deals with the distribution of cash, but Tawde is not mentioned.

According to district officials Rs 9,93,000 in cash was recovered. However, BVA alleged Rs 5 crore had already been distributed, and that Tawde has a diary listing the recipients.