The BJP on Wednesday intensified its attack on Maharashtra opposition leaders Supriya Sule and Nana Patole for their alleged involvement in using bitcoins illegally to fund elections and claimed their roles will surface during the probe.BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra also targeted Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, and asked the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha to hold a press conference on the issue.In a press conference, Patra rejected the opposition’s claim that the BJP was behind the “conspiracy” to target them amid the Maharashtra polls as he claimed that the suspected crypto currency fraud occurred years back and the opposition alliance used the money in previous elections as well.It appears that the money involved so far in this scam is Rs 235 crore, he claimed.Sule has denied the charges, including the audio records purportedly featuring her voice, as fake and said she has filed complaint with the Election Commission and the Maharashtra Police.”Familiar tactics of spreading false information to manipulate the righteous voters,” she said.She said on X, “The intent and mala fide actors behind it are amply evident, condemn-worthy that such practices are taking place in a healthy democracy guided by the Constitution of India.”Patra claimed that the matter came to light as Gaurav Mehta, a person involved in crypto currency trade and an alleged link to this case, decided to go public because he feared danger to his life after he encashed the bitcoins to help opposition leaders.INTERVIEW| Congress will emerge as single largest party in Maharashtra polls, says state chief Nana PatoleThe BJP leader claimed that the matter has its roots in a crypto currency fraud in 2018, and a former IPS officer Ravindranath Patil, who had joined private sector and was tapped as an expert to help the investigation, ended up getting arrested for misappropriating a crypto currency wallet.Citing Patil’s comments, Patra claimed two other IPS officers were involved in the missing wallet.Mehta had then given evidence against Patil and shared the alleged voice records of Sule and Patole, he noted.Patra rejected the defence of Sule, claiming that every suspect says the same thing when caught.Meanwhile, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Wednesday slammed the BJP for dragging him into these allegations of Bitcoin misappropriation to influence the state polls and said he would take the legal route to fight the “fake” charges against him.Talking to reporters after casting his vote in Bhandara district, Patole said he is a farmer and has nothing to do with bitcoins.The BJP on Tuesday played purported voice notes of Patole and NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule to allege attempts to encash bitcoins to influence the state assembly elections, claiming it poses a serious question on the conduct of polls in a free and fair manner.Sharing the audios in which the voices and signal chats purportedly belonging to the two opposition leaders stress the bitcoin transactions for allegedly funding their poll campaign, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said it is clear that the MVA has seen the writing on the wall that it is facing defeat in the polls.Patole also dismissed the BJP allegations and said, “The voice in the clip being circulated is not mine. Even (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi recognises my voice.””Similarly, Ravindra Patil who is making the allegations is an IPS officer. He is fake and was in jail,” Patole charged.The Congress leader lashed out at the BJP for resorting to such “gimmicks” on the eve of voting.Patole also said an FIR has been registered against Sudhanshu Trivedi and others for allegedly making false allegations and a defamation suit will also be filed.”We will fight this legally,” he stressed.Speaking to reporters in Pune, Sule also refuted the BJP’s allegations against her.”Yesterday, the BJP posed five questions too. My answer is ‘No’ to their allegations. It is not my voice in that audio clip. Anyone can check. I am not at all linked to this matter,” she said.Sule added that she is ready to reply to all the allegations of the BJP NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar said BJP’s allegations against his daughter Sule and Congress leader Patole are not worth taking note of.”The person making the allegations was in jail. It shows how low the BJP stoops,” Pawar expressed.
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