‘Vinod Tawde not guilty’: Fadnavis defends BJP leader amid cash-for-votes row; ₹9.93 lakh cash, docs seized from hotel

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has defended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) General Secretary Vinod Tawde after Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) chief Hitendra Thakur’s accused Vinod Tawde of distributing money to voters at a Palghar hotel on the eve of voting in the Assembly elections.

Speaking with news agency ANI, Devendra Fadnavis said, “Vinod Tawde went there only to meet party workers. He had no money, and neither money has been found nor distributed. As per a plan, our candidate Rajan Naik and our workers were attacked. Vinod Tawde is not guilty at all, he is just being accused.”

Hitendra Thakur said, “The hotel administration seems to be in cahoots with Tawde and the BJP. They only activated their CCTV after we requested it. He was distributing money to manipulate voters.”

Meanwhile, as the alleged scandal exposed, a police team comprising senior officials raided the hotel where Vinod Tawde was present and recovered ₹9.93 lakh cash and some incriminating documents.

A video on social media showed BVA workers confronting Vinod Tawde outside the hotel. Vinod Tawde has denied the allegations, saying he was in Nalasopara to provide guidance regarding election procedures and challenged the opposition parties to verify his activities.

District collector and election officer Govind Bodke said the election department received complaints from BVA activists that some BJP workers were distributing cash at a hotel in Virar. Also Read | Rahul Gandhi takes ‘tempo’ jibe at PM Modi over cash-for-votes row in poll-bound Maharashtra – ‘from whose SAFE did…’

After this, Nalla Sopara returning officer, a team of police the joint police commissioner and two deputy police commissioners raided the hotel and recovered ₹9.93 lakh cash and some incriminating documents, the official said.

The collector, in a recorded message, confirmed that cases were registered for offences, including possession of cash, violation of the model code of conduct, and holding illegal press conferences.

The police were probing into the crimes, he said, without revealing against whom these offences were registered.