Police have registered a non-cognisable case against Shiv Sena MLA Santosh Bangar after he was purportedly heard in a video saying outstation electors would be paid money online if they travel to his constituency in Maharashtra for voting for the upcoming Assembly elections. Bangar, who belongs to the ruling Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, represents the Kalamnuri assembly seat in Hingoli district.
The video of his speech has gone viral on social media and has been shared by some regional news channels. However, when and where he made the comment could not be known. PTI could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.In the video, he said, ”The list of those (voters) who are out of station should be submitted to us in the next 2-3 days. Ask them to hire vehicles and they should get what they want. Everything will be made available to them including ’PhonePe’ (online payment app). Tell them that they are coming for us. The voters staying outside should come to our village.”
Bangar was elected as an MLA of the undivided Shiv Sena in 2019. After the party’s division, he sided with CM Shinde.When contacted, Hingoli collector Abhinav Goel told PTI, ”I have not seen the video (of Bangar’s speech) so far. But we have our teams and they are keeping a watch. We will examine the video and take action if it is necessary.” On Sunday, the Kalamnuri police registered a non-cognisable case against Bangar under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 170 (1) (1) (whoever gives a gratification to any person with the object of inducing him or any other person to exercise any electoral right or of rewarding any such person for having exercised any such right) and 173 (bribery), an official said.