Mumbai:

Several candidates emerged victorious in the Maharashtra assembly polls by wafer-thin margins, including an AIMIM candidate in Malgaon Central by 162 votes and Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole by 208 votes from Sakoli.

All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) sitting MLA Mufti Mohammad Ismail Abdul Khalique defeated Asif Shaikh Rasheed of the Indian Secular Largest Assembly of Maharashtra by 162 votes in Malegaon Central seat in Nashik district.

Patole defeated BJP’s Avinash Brahmankar by 208 votes in Sakoli in Bhandara district.

The BJP’s Manda Mhatre won from Belapur in Navi Mumbai by a margin of 377 votes, while Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Gaikwad won from Buldhana by 841 votes.

In Karjat-Jamkhed, sitting NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar retained his seat by 1,243 votes, while state minister and NCP candidate Dilip Walse Patil won from Ambegaon constituency with a margin of 1,523 votes.

Maharashtra minister and Shiv Sena candidate Tanaji Sawant won from Paranda constituency by 1,509 votes.

Maharashtra minister and BJP candidate Atul Save managed to win from Aurangabad East constituency by 2,161 votes.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) shared four audio clips on their official X (formerly Twitter) account to claim that it is a conversation recorded involving Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders Supriya Sule (NCP-SP), Nana Patole (Congress) and IPS officer Amitabh Gupta.

The conversations revolved around money and cryptocurrency (Bitcoin), and all of them were speaking with one Gaurav Mehta, who is allegedly an employee of an audit firm.

BJP shared these audio clips on 19 November, a day before Maharashtra was set to witness assembly elections and claims that these are ‘proof of polling fraud’.

(These posts can be seen here, here, here and here.)

But what’s the truth?: These audio clips are not authentic and have been created using AI tools.

How did we find out the truth?: We will examine each audio clip here:

AUDIO 1: IPS Amitabh Gupta with Audit firm employee Gaurav Mehta speaking to

• To start off with, Gupta pronounces the name ‘Gaurav’ and ‘Lakshmi’ incorrectly.

• We ran this audio clip on the AI-detection tool, TrueMedia, which concluded that there was substantial evidence of manipulation.

• AI-Generated Audio Detector returned with 100 percent confidence which concludes that the audio is fake.

  

  Here are the results by TrueMedia.

  

  Here are the results by TrueMedia

• Team WebQoof contacted ConTrails AI, a Bengaluru-based startup, that has developed its own AI technology for identifying fake audio and video content.

• Their report indicated that the audio file is AI generated or manipulated with high confidence.

  

  Here are the results by ConTrails.

• AUDIO 2: Congress leader Nana Patole in conversation with IPS Amitabh Gupta

• In this short audio clip, Patole is allegedly threatening Gupta to convert the bitcoin for cash.

• When we uploaded the video to TrueMedia’s AI-detection tool, it concluded that this audio is fake too. There was little evidence of manipulation.

  

  Here are the results by TrueMedia.

  

  Here are the results by TrueMedia

However, when we uploaded the clip as an audio file, the results found little evidence of manipulation.

• We also compared Patole’s voice in the audio recording to his interviews on YouTube channel, The Lallantop, shared on 15 November 2024. The voice in the audio clip did not match Patole’s original voice.

Another online AI-detection tool, Hive Moderation, also concluded that this audio has been cloned and is not real.

The Misinformation Combat Alliance’s (MCA) Deepfakes Analysis Unit (DAU) also ran the clip through third-party AI audio detection tools.

AUDIO 3: Supriya Sule in conversation with Mehta

• In this audio clip, Sule asks Mehta for cash in exchange for bitcoins.

• We compared Sule’s voice in the voice note to her interview on Samdish Bhatia’s video podcast, Unfiltered By Samdish in 2023.

• We noticed that her original voice does not match the one heard in the audio clips shared by BJP.

  

  Here are the results by TrueMedia.

  

  Here are the results by TrueMedia.

  

  Here are the results by Hive Moderation.

• ConTrails report also noted that the audio is manipulated.

  

  Here are the results by ConTrails.

• Moreover, Sule took to X to clarify that this audio clip shared by BJP linking her to a conversation regarding Bitcoins is fake.

• She has also lodged a cyber crime complaint.

Familiar tactics of spreading false information to manipulate the righteous voters are being resorted to, a night before the polling day. We have filed a criminal complaint to the Hon’ble ECI & the Cyber crime department against the fake allegations made of bitcoin… pic.twitter.com/g8Selv1DFk

— Supriya Sule (@supriya_sule) November 19, 2024

AUDIO 4: Second conversation between Gupta and Mehta

It noted that Audio Spoof detection AI model indicated AI generation with high confidence.

Conclusion: BJP shared AI-generated audio clips of Supriya Sule, Nana Patole and Amitabh Gupta and falsely linked it with “polling frauds”.

(This story was originally published by The Quint, and republished by NDTV as part of the Shakti Collective)

New Delhi:

Maharashtra’s Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi will form the state’s next government and its Chief Minister will take oath on November 25, Congress’s state unit chief Nana Patole told NDTV today. Asked about the exit polls, which have predicted either an NDA victory or a hung house, he told NDTV in an exclusive interview, “Last time they predicted a Congress victory in Haryana and we lost. This time they are predicting our defeat. We will surely win”. 

The BJP’s Milind Deora was equally convinced about a victory of the ruling Mahayuti alliance. “I am not into numbers… but we will definitely win”. The reason of his confidence, he told NDTV, was that the alliance – working its way from the Lok Sabha election setback, “left no stones unturned… and checked all boxes”.

Mr Patole, though, brushed off the possibility. Asked whether the BJP hopes were justified and the Lok Sabha poll results were an aberration, he said, “When Prime Minister Narendra Modi could not prevail during the Lok Sabha elections, when will the likes of (Chief Minister) Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis do?”

Mr Patole also did not go into overall numbers, but predicted that the Congress would win 35 seats in Vidarbha alone and the alliance will make a clean sweep of the zone, winning at least 48 to 50 of the 62 seats.

The majority mark in the 288-member assembly stands at 145.

The Congress has contested 103 seats, the Shiv Sena of Uddhav Thackeray 89 seats and Sharad Pawar’s faction of the Nationalist Congress Party 87 seats. 

Six seats were given to other MVA allies, while there was no clarity on three assembly segments.

An aggregate of nine exit polls earlier this evening said the Mahayuti — ruling alliance of Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party and the BJP — could win 150 seats and the Maha Vikas Aghadi, the coalition of Uddhav Thackeray’s faction of Shiv Sena, NCP Sharadchandra Pawar and the Congress, may get 125. 

The exit polls that predicted an NDA victory include People’s Pulse, Matrize, Chanakya Strategies, and Times Now JVC. The naysayers are Dainik Bhaskar, Lokshahi Marathi Rudra and Electoral Edge.

The counting of votes will take place on Saturday. 

Amid a controversy over the luggage of opposition leaders being examined, the bags of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, the party’s Maharashtra President Nana Patole and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) chief Uddhav Thackeray were checked by Election Commission (EC) officials in the poll-bound state on Thursday.

This is the first time during the campaign for the Maharashtra elections that Mr Kharge and Mr Patole’s bags were checked by polling officials. A video shared by news agency ANI shows Mr Kharge’s staff opening his bags for polling officials to take a look inside them in Nashik.

#WATCH | #MaharashtraElection2024 | Bags of Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge were checked by the Election Commission as his helicopter landed in Nashik pic.twitter.com/NlsgmanIyO

— ANI (@ANI) November 14, 2024

Mr Patole’s luggage was also checked in a similar manner at the Tiroda helipad in Gondia district, when he was on his way to campaign for a Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) candidate in the Goregaon assembly constituency.

#WATCH | Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole’s helicopter and bags were checked by an election official today. The helicopter was checked at Tiroda helipad while Patole was going to campaign for an NCP-SCP candidate in Goregaon Assembly constituency

(Source: Congress) pic.twitter.com/pt7oSSJ0vt

— ANI (@ANI) November 14, 2024

The bags of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray bags were checked twice in one day – in Shrigonda and Newasa in Ahmednagar district – according to videos released by his team.

The former chief minister has put out at least two other videos this week of his luggage being checked as he travelled across the state to campaign for the elections to the 288-member assembly on November 20.

The earlier incidents of checking had sparked a huge row between his faction of the Shiv Sena and the rival group led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

There were no immediate comments from either the three opposition leaders or the EC on the latest checks, but polling officials had earlier said it was a “routine procedure” ahead of the elections.

Earlier this week, Mr Thackeray was seen grilling a polling official who was waiting to search the former’s bags as he deboarded his chopper. In a gruff tone, the Shiv Sena (UBT) boss sought to know the officer’s name (Mahesh Shani) and see his ID card.

The former chief minister also claimed that the EC does not search bags of leaders from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or the Mahayuti alliance.

Sena leader Sanjay Raut had sought to know if the luggage of Shinde and his deputies, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were checked in a similar manner.

To counter the Opposition’s claims, the Maharashtra BJP on Wednesday posted a video on X showing the checking of Mr Fadnavis’ bags, and said merely holding the Constitution for “show” is not enough and one must also follow the constitutional system – a dig at the Congress over a controversy involving Rahul Gandhi. Mr Shinde’s luggage was also checked on Wednesday at Palghar Police ground helipad as part of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

In an exclusive interview with NDTV on Wednesday, Mr Shinde said it was a routine procedure for EC officials to carry out such checks. “So why the fuss and why the fear? We don’t create videos and post. They are doing their job, we are doing ours,” he said.

Mumbai:

The BJP today doubled down against Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole’s purported ‘dog’ remarks targeting its leaders and described it as Congress’s frustration ahead of Assembly polls. BJP leader Kirit Somaiya said the remarks prove that the Maha Vikas Aghadi opposition alliance has gone “from disappointment to dejection”

Speaking to ANI, Mr Somaiya said, “They are going from disappointment to dejection. Sharad Pawar is saying something; Uddhav Thackeray is verbally abusing Election Commission. Now, Rahul Gandhi’s Congress is calling the BJP a ‘kutta’ because opinion polls show a clear majority for Mahayuti. So, I can understand their disappointment.”

The Congress leader said during a poll campaign in Akola yesterday said, “I want to ask, will the OBC people of Akola district vote for the BJP who are calling you dogs? It is time to make the BJP a dog now; they have become so arrogant.”

The comments seeking to blame the BJP for disrespecting the OBC community are expected to intensify the ongoing political rivalry between the MVA and Mahayuti ahead of the November 20 Maharashtra Assembly elections.

BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said, “Nana Patole is frustrated because when he travels on ground, he can understand that the Congress is not going to form a government in Maharashtra. But in his frustration, he has said that he wants to tame the BJP as dogs… This shows the ‘Emergency’ mindset of the Congress party that it wants to tame its rivals and bring them under control; it wants to file cases against them and silence them. If they come to power in Maharashtra, they will file cases against whoever speaks against them.

“That is why we say that Congress wants to damage the Constitution. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Constitution gives you freedom of speech. I condemn the word used by Nana Patole but it also shows their inferiority complex. Yesterday, Karnataka Congress leader Zameer Ahmed used the term ‘kaala’ for his rival. It is a racist term. Today, they are using the term ‘kutta’…I can understand the frustration of Nana Patole. When they are not forming their government, they get frustrated and say absurd things,” the BJP spokesperson added.

The opposition MVA coalition, comprising Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and the NCP (SP), aims to reclaim power in the state, challenging the Mahayuti alliance, which includes Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, the BJP, and Ajit Pawar-led NCP.

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole today said that he was “friends” with Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut amid reports of tension between the two allies.

“I am friends with Sanjay Raut. I don’t understand why people create disputes between us,” said Mr Patole at NDTV Marathi’s Jahirnama event.

Terse remarks by Mr Patole and Mr Raut amid the delay in the seat-sharing announcement for the upcoming assembly elections in Maharashtra triggered the rift buzz.

To a veiled swipe of Sanjay Raut where he said the Congress leaders are “not capable of taking decisions”, Mr Patole shot back, “If Sanjay Raut is controlling Uddhav Thackeray, that is their issue. We have the responsibility of telling the reality of our leaders and we are doing that. We do not want to speak anything on what Sanjay Raut does.”

Other Congress leaders, however, played down the statements insisting that talks were going smoothly.

During the event, Mr Patole also addressed the impasse between the opposition alliance in Maharashtra – Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) – over some seats.

“Congress is a national party, and national parties have to handle things carefully. Regional parties have their demands and dreams of growth, which is acceptable. Congress played a crucial role in allocating seats based on merit, aiming for a majority government in Maharashtra. We are still working towards it,” he said.

“Discussions for 5-10 seats are still pending, and we’ll resolve this issue. After October 30, we’ll gather again to find a solution. We have decided to contest elections as MVA. No conflicts arose during seat allocation. Efforts are continuing to resolve pending seat allocation issues,” he added.

The 61-year-old had earlier revealed its seat-sharing arrangement for 255 of 288 constituencies in Maharashtra. He said that each alliance partner – Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) – will be contesting 85 seats each.

When he was asked by the chief minister face of the opposition alliance, he said, “As per Rahul Gandhi’s vision, the priority is to save Maharashtra first. Once we do that, the MVA leaders will decide on the Chief Minister.”

Earlier, speaking at NDTV Marathi’s Election Conclave, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis took a dig at the opposition, and said, “Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is not announcing Chief Minister face as they don’t think their Chief Minister can come after elections.”

The ruling alliance, however, has also not named its chief minister face yet.

Mr Fadnavis said that the ruling Mahayuti does not need to announce the candidate for the chief ministerial post, as Eknath Shinde is the incumbent Chief Minister: “Who will become Chief Minister is announced after the elections. We are three major parties, CM Eknath Shinde is chief of Shiv Sena, Ajit Pawar is chief of NCP and our (BJP) Parliamentary board will decide who will be the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. But we are not worried because we have our Chief Minister, Eknath Shinde who is leading our government.”

Maharashtra will vote on November 20 and the results will be declared on November 23.

The BJP won 105 seats, the Shiv Sena won 56, and the Congress secured 44 seats in the 2019 Maharashtra elections. In 2014, the BJP won 122 seats, while the Shiv Sena won 63 and the Congress 42.

Mumbai:

In a sign of differences between the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena and the Congress just a month before the Maharashtra Assembly elections, the regional party has said it will not hold seat-sharing discussions with state Congress President Nana Patole.

On Thursday, sources in the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance, comprising the Congress, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and the Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), had said that a consensus had been reached on 260 of the state’s 288 Assembly constituencies. 

Speaking on Friday, however, senior Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader and MP Sanjay Raut said the allies had agreed on only 200 seats and took a dig at Nana Patole without naming him, saying leaders in the Maharashtra Congress leaders are “not capable of taking decisions”.

Mr Raut said he had spoken to Congress general secretaries KC Venugopal and Mukul Wasnik and the party’s Maharashtra in-charge Ramesh Chennithala and would also talk to Rahul Gandhi later in the day.

“The pending decision should be expedited. Very little time is left. Maharashtra Congress leaders are not capable of making decisions. They have to send the list to Delhi frequently and then discussions happen. The decision (on seat-sharing) will have to be taken at the earliest,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. 

Sources told NDTV that the differences between the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress arose because the Uddhav Thackeray-led party wanted to contest more seats in the Vidarbha region, which Mr Patole was not willing to concede. 

Riding high on its performance in Maharashtra in the Lok Sabha elections, in which it emerged as the single-largest party with 13 of 48 seats, the Congress is hoping to do well in Vidarbha, where it has had a good track record in previous elections as well. The region is also a stronghold of Mr Patole. 

While it is unclear what impact the decision of the Shiv Sena (UBT) will have on the larger Maha Vikas Aghadi, sources said the differences may hurt the coalition in its fight with the ruling Mahayuti alliance. 

The opposition alliance was seen to be in the driver’s seat after its performance in the Lok Sabha elections, in which it managed to win 30 constituencies in Maharashtra, but the BJP-Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction)-NCP (Ajit Pawar) faction coalition has been energised after the Haryana results in which the BJP managed to pull off its best-ever performance despite battling anti-incumbency after two straight terms.

Voting in Maharashtra will be held in a single phase on November 20 and counting will take place on November 23.

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole has said “traitors” from the party who cross-voted in the recent elections to 11 legislative council seats have been identified and will be punished.

“The same “traitors” had ensured the defeat of the Congress leader Chandrakant Handore in the council elections two years ago,” Mr. Patole claimed on July 13.

“A trap was laid this time and they have been identified. They will be punished so that no one dares to betray the party again,” Mr. Patole told reporters in Mumbai, without taking any name.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, while talking to reporters on July 14, said the Congress has accepted that cross-voting took place and they will take action accordingly.

“The Central government is going to observe the imposition of Emergency as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’. Isn’t it unconstitutional to get MLCs elected by MLAs who are facing disqualification? Isn’t it unconstitutional to purchase MLAs by bribing them? BJP is the real murderer of the Constitution,” Mr. Raut alleged.

Following a split in the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the Shiv Sena (UBT) headed by Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) had moved court seeking disqualification of MLAs of the parties led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar.

The ruling ‘Mahyuti’ in the State, comprising the Shiv Sena led by CM Shinde, the BJP and Ajit Pawar-headed NCP, on July 12 won all the nine seats it contested in the biennial elections to 11 seats in the legislative council.

The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) faced a setback as a candidate backed by Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) lost. At least seven Congress MLAs defied the party’s directive while voting, results showed.

“The Congress, which has 37 MLAs, had fixed a quota of 30 first preference votes for its candidate Pradyna Satav, and seven remaining votes were to go to Milind Narvekar, candidate of the ally Shiv Sena (UBT),” party sources earlier said.

Eventually, Mr. Satav got 25 and Narvekar 22 first preference votes, which meant at least seven Congress MLAs cross-voted. Jayant Patil of the Peasants and Workers’ Party (PWP), supported by the NCP (SP), lost.

The 288-member legislative Assembly, with current strength of 274, was the electoral college for the council polls. Each winning candidate required 23 votes.

The BJP is the largest party in the Assembly with 103 members, followed by the Shiv Sena-38, NCP- 42, Congress-37, Shiv Sena (UBT)-15 and NCP (SP)-10.

Mumbai:

Cameramen in tow, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole pointed to the cracks on the road, alleging corruption in the construction of Atul Setu sea bridge, also known as Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link (MTHL), which connects south Mumbai to Navi Mumbai, within months of inauguration.

Mr Patole, who inspected the bridge during the day, claimed that the construction quality of the bridge was poor and that a portion of the road has caved in by one foot. A wooden stick in hand, he lowered it in the gap between the cracks, spotlighting the seriousness of the matter.

“A portion of the Atal Setu bridge has developed cracks within three months of the inauguration and a half-a-kilometre-long stretch of the road near Navi Mumbai has caved in by a foot. The state has spent Rs 18,000 crore for the MTHL,” said Mr Patole.

However, the ruling BJP as well as the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which is the nodal agency for the project, said that the cracks were not on the bridge itself but on the approach road from Ulwe in Navi Mumbai.

“There have been rumours circulating about cracks on the MTHL bridge. We want to clarify that these cracks are not on the bridge itself but on the approach road connecting MTHL from Ulwe towards Mumbai,” said the MMRDA.

“Stop maligning Atal Setu,” the BJP posted on X.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis asserted that there is no danger to Atal Setu and termed the allegations as part of Congress’ “long term plan to create a rift with the help of lies”.

“There is no crack on Atal Setu. Nor is there any danger to Atal Setu. This picture is of the approach road. But one thing is clear that the Congress party has made a long term plan to create a rift with the help of lies. Talks of constitutional amendments during elections, unlocking of EVMs through phone after elections and now such lies. Only the people of the country will defeat this ‘Darar’ plan and the corrupt behaviour of Congress,” Devendra Fadnavis posted on X.

Built at a cost of Rs 17,840 crore, this six-lane bridge is 21.8 km long with a 16.5 km section over the sea

“This is a service road. This is a connecting part of the main bridge. These are minor cracks and they are being filled up and will be repaired by today itself. There has been no traffic disruption because of this,” said Kailash Ganatra, Project Head, Atal Setu, PKG4.
 

Mumbai:

Maharashtra Congress boss Nana Patole landed has landed in controversy after a video circulated online showed an unidentified man – believed to be a party worker – washing his feet. The video, shared by news agency IANS, showed Mr Patole sitting in a car as the party worker cleans his feet.

The top Congress leader – who seemed to make no effort to stop the party worker – was in Akola district and reportedly spent the day outdoors, where the ground had turned muddy after rain.

He has since clarified the sequence of events and said it had been blown out of proportion, noting he had asked for some water to wash his feet as they were covered in mud. “I come from a farmer family and am used to having my feet covered in mud… So I had asked a party worker to bring water. He poured it and I washed my feet myself,” Mr Patole said Tuesday at a press conference.

But as soon as the video went viral the BJP pounced; Shehzad Poonawalla posted on X about the Congress’ “nawabi” and “feudal” mindset. “Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole’s gets his leg and feet washed by a party worker… they treat voters and workers like ghulam (slaves) and themselves as kings and queens. Imagine how they treat people without coming to power!”

Congress has a Nawabi Feudal Shehzada mindset

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole’s gets his leg and feet washed by a party worker in Akola…

They treat Janta and workers like Ghulam & themselves like Kings & Queens

Imagine how they treat people without coming to… pic.twitter.com/dmzeSUNZxB

— Shehzad Jai Hind (Modi Ka Parivar) (@Shehzad_Ind) June 18, 2024

“What will they do if they by mistake come to power? Nana Patole must apologise and so must the Congress,” Mr Poonawalla raged, upping pressure on the Congress and the opposition alliance – which turned the table on his party in the Lok Sabha election – ahead of a state poll later this year.

The BJP’s Telangana leader also attacked Mr Patole.

“PM (Narendra) Modiji upholds dignity by not allowing anyone to touch his feet… while Congress leader Nana Patole has karyakartas wash his feet. The deep-seated slavery mindset in Congress starts with the Nehru-Gandhi family and pervades the entire party,” the BJP’s Shanti Kumar wrote on X.

PM Shri @narendramodi ji upholds dignity by not allowing anyone to touch his feet, while #CONgress leader Nana Patole has Karyakartas wash his feet.

The deep-seated slavery mindset in @INCIndia starts with the Nehru-Gandhi family and pervades the entire party. pic.twitter.com/4kgeinyuc4

— BJPShanthikumar (@BJPShanthikumar) June 18, 2024

Mr Patole, however, declared himself unbothered by criticism, and counterattacked by claiming others received similar treatment but were not attacked. He also tossed barbs at federal probe agencies – the ED and CBI, which the opposition has oft accused of targeting its leaders on orders from the BJP, particularly before elections – and attacked the centre over the farmers’ protests.

“I am not bothered by such allegations… there were others getting the same treatment. Karyakartas (party workers) were massaging heads and legs… why was that not shown?” Mr Patole hit back.

“The (party) worker was pouring water on my feet as they were muddy. There was no tap…” he said, attacking the ruling alliance of the BJP and splinter factions of the Shiv Sena and NCP groups.

“What about ED and CBI ka keechad on those in power… why is the (central) government not helping farmers escape the karje ka keechad (the debt trap)?” Mr Patole continued.

“Thank you for giving publicity,” he also said, appearing to taunt the BJP for its criticism.

The BJP slipped to a big defeat in the 2024 Maharashtra Lok Sabha election. In 2019 the party swept 23 of the state’s 48 seats, while the then-undivided Sena, then an ally, picked up 18 more.

READ | “Race Starts Now”: Maharashtra Congress On Lok Sabha Poll Win

However, this time – with the Sena and NCP both having splintered, and seen the breakaway factions declared the ‘original’ by the Election Commission – the opposition INDIA alliance was the big winner.

The INDIA group won 31 seats and that is expected to give it an edge when Assembly polls are held later this year. Days after the bloc’s big score Mr Patole said, “The real race starts now…”

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