Mumbai:
An audio clip released by Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil, in which an unidentified woman is claiming Rs 500 crore from the BJP was sent to him via Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde, has set off a war of words between allies BJP and Shiv Sena, as questions remain on where the money went, if at all.
Jarange Patil has denied he asked for or received any such Rs 500-crore “payment”, which has put Shrikant Shinde, alleged to have been a courier for BJP money just before the 2024 state polls, in the spotlight.
The Shiv Sena led by Shrikant’s father and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde sees in it a conspiracy against him. The senior partner BJP also sees a plot behind allegations linking the money to the party.
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Shiv Sena leader and former minister Ramdas Kadam has accused a section of the BJP of plotting to politically “finish” Eknath Shinde, Shrikant’s father. “You are trying to hatch a conspiracy to finish a Maratha leader (Eknath Shinde) by colluding with the BJP,” he said on Friday. Kadam named BJP MLCs Pravin Darekar and Prasad Lad and displayed photographs of Lad and Jarange Patil sharing a meal.
Darekar, the BJP’s group leader in the legislative council, and Lad hit back, saying the party would not tolerate being put in the dock and that Kadam “should not become Sanjay Raut”, referring to a leader of Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) who often attacks the BJP.
Lad said it would soon come out who had backed Jarange Patil from behind the scenes “against Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis”, and warned that the BJP would respond “in kind”.
Eknath Shinde denied the allegation that he or his son ever got any money. “Neither have I given Rs 500 crore, nor have I taken it,” he said in Delhi.
At a rally in Beed earlier this week, Jarange Patil had alleged that there were “whispers” in the BJP camp that he was paid Rs 500 crore “through Shrikant Shinde”. On Thursday, he played the clip at a press meet, not detailing who the three to four people speaking in it were.
Eknath Shinde said Jarange Patil should have verified the claim first and should hand any evidence to the agencies concerned. The Shinde-led Sena has also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, even though Fadnavis has already announced a probe.
Fadnavis on Friday ordered a forensic examination of the clip after a Team Shinde delegation met him. “We all have the same question: why have these conversations emerged now, after two and a half years?” he said, news agency PTI reported.
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On Saturday, Shrikant Shinde mocked the claim. “The question that has crossed Manoj Jarange Patil’s mind has also crossed mine, and I am now out searching for it… We were discussing how Rs 500 crore in cash would look together and how many vehicles would be required to transport it,” he joked.
Lad later sought to settle the spat, saying the matter was “closed” after Sena minister Uday Samant spoke to him following talks with Shinde and Fadnavis. He blamed Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut for trying to create a rift. “We respect Eknath Shinde and regard him as our elder brother,” Lad said, according to PTI.
Jarange Patil, meanwhile, said the clip is genuine and demanded that Ram Kadam should be questioned about how Jarange obtained it.
In the recording, which Jarange played in Jalna on Thursday, a woman is heard claiming that Rs 500 crore had been delivered to him through Shrikant Shinde. Other speakers purportedly discuss ways to counter his influence in Marathwada before the 2024 polls. The clip’s authenticity has not been independently verified.
The row comes amid talk of strain between Fadnavis and Shinde. At a Dussehra rally this month, Sena minister Gulabrao Patil called Shinde a future chief minister, a remark that reportedly upset BJP leaders.
