Mumbai, Nov 19 (IANS): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) General Secretary Vinod Tawde, who found himself in the eye of a storm over a ‘cash for votes’ charge on Tuesday said that he was ready for a thorough probe by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and also asserted that truth will come out.
In his first reaction after the cash controversy ahead of Assembly polls in Maharashtra, the BJP General Secretary said that he was briefing the party workers for the polling day and it was a conspiracy by the rival groups to stir a needless controversy.
Poll-bound Maharashtra saw major political turmoil in the Nallasopara constituency as the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) workers gheraoed Vinod Tawde over allegations of distributing cash to influence voters.
The drama unfolded at a hotel in Virar, where BVA workers gheraoed the senior BJP leader, claiming that Tawde was ‘caught dispensing cash’ to workers.
A video of the ruckus between BVA as well as BJP workers also surfaced, in which the former could be seen levelling allegations against the senior leader. They claimed that Vinod Tawde was distributing Rs 5 crore cash to the BJP workers in the said meeting.
Speaking to IANS, the BJP General Secretary said that he went there to the constituency to hold a meeting with party workers, regarding preparations for polling day.
“I was there to brief party workers on poll preparations. I was explaining to them how to seal the voting machines, and how to raise objections if they find anything objectionable. The rival party presumed that we were distributing cash,” he said.
He further said that the ECI will conduct a detailed probe into baseless allegations and find out the truth.
“The ECI will conduct a fair probe, I am ready for it. The truth will come out,” he remarked.
Other BJP leaders also slammed the BVA leaders and claimed that it was a political stunt by them on the eve of elections.
“The ECI should scan the footage and investigate the matter to get to the root of the matter. This is nothing but a political gimmick,” said a BJP leader.