Rs 500 crore audio clip row: Raut and BJP leaders trade charges over Jarange claim

An alleged audio clip has caused a political storm in Maharashtra over the past few days. It is being claimed that Rs 500 crore was given to Maratha reservation movement leader Manoj Jarange Patil through MP Shrikant Shinde. The claim has set political circles abuzz, and the ruling side and the opposition are trading charges as the matter grows more serious and tangled by the day.

It is said that Jarange Patil came into possession of the clip while a fast for Maratha reservation was under way. The clip claims that Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde gave Jarange Rs 500 crore. This put the Mahayuti government, especially Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his son Shrikant Shinde, in a difficult position. Jarange took an openly aggressive stand and sought an explanation from Eknath Shinde and Shrikant Shinde. As the clip spread, parties responded in different ways.

Sanjay Raut, leader and MP of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), leveled serious allegations against the BJP and the Home department. He said the viral clip was leaked by a BJP member of the Legislative Council who was himself part of the conversation with Jarange. In this connection, Raut cited a discussion about Jarange in August involving BJP MLA Prasad Lad.

Raut also said a deadly rivalry is under way within the BJP and that this was its result. According to him, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has lost control of the state and has failed as Home Minister. Raut claimed that the cold war between Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde was at its peak and that they could go to any length to finish each other politically. He told Fadnavis to first register a case and order a forensic probe, but remarked that nothing would come of the inquiry.

The BJP hit back strongly. MLA Prasad Lad made a sensational claim that Sanjay Raut himself got the audio clip made. According to him, the fake clip was prepared in a studio or war room at the office of the daily Saamana, and the voice-over was done using artificial intelligence (AI). Lad demanded that police pick up Sanjay Raut for tough questioning and search the Saamana studio.

BJP state chief spokesperson Navnath Ban made a formal demand to the Chief Minister. He claimed the fake clip was made with the help of AI in Sanjay Raut's war room and was delivered to Jarange through a person from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. According to Ban, the figure was initially fixed at Rs 100 crore, but it was raised to Rs 500 crore at Raut's behest to make the matter look serious. He said Sanjay Raut is the mastermind of the whole conspiracy and a case should be registered against him immediately.

MP Shrikant Shinde, speaking to the media, mocked the Rs 500 crore claim. He said, "This Rs 500 crore has not reached me either. The question that occurred to Manoj Jarange Patil has occurred to me too. Where did this Rs 500 crore go? I am now setting out to find it." He also remarked sarcastically that "we were thinking about how Rs 500 crore would look all in one place and how many vehicles it would take to carry it". According to Shrikant Shinde, the Chief Minister has ordered an inquiry into the whole matter, and the truth will come out.

Shiv Sena minister Sanjay Shirsat said the audio clip would be examined in a forensic laboratory and it would emerge who the "snake in the sleeve" sowing discord within the Mahayuti is. Speaking on the controversy linked to Ramdas Kadam, he said the Mahayuti should stay united and what is past is past. Prasad Lad also spoke in support of Eknath Shinde, saying Eknath Shinde is "our leader" and that he has the full strength of Modi, Shah and Devendra Fadnavis behind him.

The matter of the alleged Rs 500 crore audio clip has thus become a major arena for mudslinging. On one side, the opposition, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), sees it as the BJP's internal rivalry and the government's failure. On the other, the ruling BJP and Shiv Sena call it a conspiracy by the opposition, especially Sanjay Raut, hatched with AI technology. The truth will emerge, and it will become clear who is right and who is wrong, only after the report of the SIT inquiry and forensic tests.