NEW DELHI: Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) was probing the “use of terror funds” in the recently concluded state polls.
Fadnavis claimed that there was “evidence of foreign interference in Indian elections”.
The Maharashtra CM said a meeting was held in Nepal this year which deliberated on replacing EVMs with ballot papers.
Speaking in the state assembly, Fadnavis also highlighted a case being investigated in Nashik’s Malegaon district while stating that he did not intend to question the patriotism of the opposition. He, however, said that the opposition should be mindful of whom they are lending their shoulders.
“To win elections, vote jihad was spoken about. Seventeen demands were given to you and you keep quiet. This year, in Malegaon, some youth complained to police about Rs 114 crore in benami money being deposited into their accounts. The accused, Siraj Mohammad, used Aadhaar and PAN details of 14 individuals to create 14 accounts in Nashik Merchants Cooperative Bank in Malegaon,” the CM was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
The Rs 114 crore deposited in this manner was then diverted to Siraj Mohammad and 21 other accounts, he said, adding the case is not restricted to Malegon but is spread across 21 states with 201 accounts seeing transactions to the tune of Rs 1000 crore. Out of the Rs 1000 crore, Rs 600 crore was sent to Dubai and Rs 100 crore was used for different purposes in the Maharashtra polls, Fadnavis said.
“The ATS is probing it as part of terror funding. There was evidence of foreign interference in Indian elections. The opposition is allowing their shoulders to be used by someone else,” the Maharashtra CM added.
Levelling a serious charge, Fadnavis said a meeting was held in Nepal on November 15 this year that was attended by some organisations which took part in the (Rahul Gandhi-led) Bharat Jodo Yatra.
In the meeting, Fadnavis said, issues like “opposing electronic voting machines (EVMs) and introduction of ballot papers in Maharashtra and BJP-ruled states were discussed.”
Forty of the 180 outfits that took part in the Bharat Jodo Yatra were named as frontal organisations when the Congress-(undivided) NCP ruled Maharashtra and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was in power at the Centre, he pointed out. These organisations campaigned for the Maha Vikas Aghadi in the assembly polls, the CM claimed.
The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi comprises the Shiv Sena (UBT), the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar).
In the November 20 Maharashtra assembly polls, results of which were declared on November 23, the Mahayuti of the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP received an paradigm-shifting mandate winning 230 of the 280 seats in the state.
