Candidates offered up to Rs 15 crore to withdraw nominations: Raj Thackeray

Thane, Jan 12 (IANS) As the campaigning for the Municipal Corporation elections reaches its fever pitch, MNS Chief Raj Thackeray on Monday levelled explosive allegations against the ruling MahaYuti alliance.

Speaking at a joint public rally alongside Uddhav Thackeray in Thane, Raj Thackeray accused the ruling parties of attempting to “buy” candidates and using money power to influence the democratic process.

Raj Thackeray claimed that massive sums of money are being funnelled to force opposition candidates out of the race.

“Offers ranging from Rs 1 crore to Rs 15 crore were made to candidates to withdraw their nominations,” he alleged.

He cited specific instances, claiming that three members of a single family contesting in one ward were offered a combined total of Rs 15 crore, which they refused.

He further alleged that a female candidate was offered Rs 5 crore, while another was offered Rs 1 crore to step down. Raj Thackeray took a sharp swipe at the current state of politics in the region, particularly in Kalyan-Dombivli.

“I visited Kalyan-Dombivli recently and saw a massive wave of support. However, they have turned the election into a ‘market of slaves.’ If you have truly worked for development, why do you need to distribute Rs 5,000 per household?” he questioned.

He also mocked the internal friction within the Mahayuti, noting, “BJP workers are distributing money while Eknath Shinde’s Sena workers are intercepting it. It’s unclear what exactly is happening within this government.”

The MNS chief did not mince words while criticising Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, specifically regarding the influence of a few industrialists. “Devendra Fadnavis, who are you doing all this for?”

Raj Thackeray asked, referring to Fadnavis as a “falcon” merely fetching prey for others. Raj Thackeray also played a video during the rally to counter Fadnavis regarding remarks made by BJP leader K Annamalai.

He accused Fadnavis of lying to protect Annamalai, who allegedly claimed that Mumbai has no link to Maharashtra.

“I thought Fadnavis understood English, but he is blatantly lying by saying Annamalai didn’t mean that. They want to erase the Marathi identity of our cities,” he asserted, while clarifying that his opposition is not against the Gujarati community but against the “conspiracies” being hatched against the state.

–IANS

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