Jarange plays audio clip alleging Rs 500 crore via Shrikant Shinde; Eknath Shinde denies charge

Maratha activist Manoj Jarange Patil called a press conference today and played an audio clip that has stirred politics. The clip says Rs 500 crore was delivered to Manoj Jarange through Shrikant Shinde, MP of Shinde's Shiv Sena. Jarange also claimed that a conspiracy was being hatched by the BJP.

The clip played at the press conference carries the voices of three to four people. The discussion is therefore now about whose voices these are.

The points in the clip are roughly as follows: Rs 500 crore has already reached Jarange Patil. It has reached him from Shrikant Shinde. Whether Jarange Patil will be useful to us in the Assembly election or not, my view is different, my calculation is different. What you think, what the fact is, that is there anyway.

After the clip, Jarange directly targeted Eknath Shinde. He said, "Eknath Shinde sahab, what did you tell the BJP people in Delhi about me? Did you tell the BJP leader that Manoj Jarange Patil is to be given Rs 500 crore, or that you took Rs 500 crore from the BJP and gave it to me?" According to Jarange, those leaders have now started whispering. He asked whether Shinde had said that Rs 500 crore reached Manoj Jarange Patil through Shrikant Shinde and that Jarange Patil is "our third person".

Jarange went on to say that if Shinde did not give him Rs 500 crore, then he would not rest until he found out whether the BJP is finishing off Shinde or Shinde is finishing off the BJP. He also said that if he asked the Maratha community tomorrow morning to contribute Rs 100 each, Rs 2,500 crore would be collected. In his words, this is not a small matter. Jarange also warned Shinde that the two would face each other in three months.

Eknath Shinde has rejected all the allegations. He said he has neither given Rs 500 crore to anyone nor taken it from anyone. Shinde said Jarange Patil should speak only after thorough verification. According to him, if Jarange has any evidence, he should produce it and it should be investigated, after which the truth will come out.

Minister and Shinde's Shiv Sena legislator Uday Samant also reacted. He said that if the clip presented by Jarange is genuine, it is a very serious matter. Samant asked who made the clip go viral. He demanded that if the clip turns out to be genuine, the BJP should clarify. Samant said the audio clip should be investigated, as should the voices in it, after which the truth will come out.