New Delhi, Nov 20 As BJP General Secretary Vinod Tawde faced accusations of distributing cash to influence voters in the Maharashtra Assembly polls, Congress Lok Sabha MP, Tariq Anwar on Wednesday slammed the BJP and said "they use such tactics to win polls."
High drama unfolded on Tuesday as workers of a regional party gheraoed Tawde, accusing him of distributing cash to influence voters in Palghar, in Maharashtra.
While Tawde has denied the allegations, the Election Commission of India has filed an FIR against the senior BJP leader over cash-for-vote allegations.
Talking to IANS, Tariq Anwar said, "It is not the first time that the BJP has done this. BJP believes in such a voting tactic for votes. They have used the same strategy in Haryana elections and other places as well."
"So, for this reason they thought it will work out that's why they are using such a strategy in Maharashtra also. Now, with the video, it is clear that they buy votes by giving money," he added.
Anwar further reacted to the BJP's allegations of National Congress Party (SP) MP, Supriya Sule and Maharashtra Congress President, Nana Patole's alleged involvement in a 2018 cryptocurrency fraud case and said, "If anything wrong happened, then they can probe it. They can do anything, if they want to find out who was involved in it. We don't have any issue."
Anwar further reacted to the events in Uttar Pradesh's bypolls where people belonging to the minority community were allegedly stopped from voting.
"It is true. We have also received such information. As the government claims to have full democracy, then why are such things happening in the country? It is condemnable," he said.
The Congress leader also claimed that the party would win in the Maharashtra and Jharkhand Assembly polls.
"Party workers have worked really hard. I believe that we will form the government in both the states," he concluded.
Voting for all the 288 Maharashtra Assembly seats and the remaining 38 Jharkhand constituencies began on Wednesday.
Results for both the states will be out on November 23. While 4,136 candidates including 363 women, are contesting in Maharashtra; 528 contestants, including 55 females are in the fray in Jharkhand's second phase.
In Maharashtra, it's a high-stakes battle for the two major alliances, the Mahayuti which is currently in power and the Maha Vikas Agadi (MVA).
As of 1 P.M., Maharashtra saw the quietest polling booths with voter turnout at 32.1 per cent while Jharkhand was at 47.92 per cent.
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