A major political controversy has emerged on Maharashtra's polling day, concerning allegations that NCP leader Supriya Sule and Congress leader Nana Patole used Bitcoin scam money for election funding. The BJP released an audio recording on Tuesday, accusing Sule and Patole of misappropriating bitcoins from a 2018 cryptocurrency fraud case to finance the elections. The accusations were linked to former Pune IPS officer Ravindranath Patil, who claimed that key police officials, including Pune’s former Commissioner Amitabh Gupta, were involved in the alleged fraud, ultimately benefitting Sule and Patole.
Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar suggested that the voice in the audio was his "sister's," while Supriya Sule, after casting her vote in Baramati, strongly denied the claims. She dismissed the audio clips as fake and accused the BJP of spreading misinformation to manipulate voters. Sule filed a criminal defamation notice against BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi and lodged a cybercrime complaint, calling the accusations lies. "I am ready to come out and answer Sudhanshu Trivedi anytime, anywhere," she stated, vowing to counter the allegations in any forum.
Sule also pointed out that such tactics were being used to mislead voters on the eve of polling, filing complaints with both the Election Commission and Cybercrime department.
