Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday announced a forensic probe into the audio clips that Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange-Patil released a day earlier alleging a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) conspiracy to influence the political narrative ahead of the 2024 assembly elections.
One clip features a woman purportedly claiming that ₹500 crore was paid to Jarange-Patil through Shiv Sena leader Shrikant Shinde to benefit the BJP electorally. Another purported BJP leader discusses the need to amplify “love jihad” cases to shape public opinion. The BJP has demanded a probe into whether the recordings were real or AI-generated.
Fadnavis cited calls for an inquiry and said the forensic investigation will examine whose voices are in the recordings and evaluate the motives behind releasing them after two and a half years. He said the probe will reveal the complete truth.
Fadnavis, who was in Nagpur to vote in the legislative council graduate constituency election, made the announcement when asked about the suspicious timing of the audio clips surfacing after two and a half years. He said an impartial inquiry will uncover the absolute truth.
Jarange-Patil held a press conference in Jalna and played a 31-minute audio recording. He said the recording reveals a long-running political conspiracy spanning the last three years aimed at weakening the Maratha reservation movement and tarnishing his reputation.
Jarange-Patil presented the clips as evidence and urged top leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Fadnavis, and his deputy Eknath Shinde, to launch a thorough probe.
Eknath Shinde denied the ₹500 crore bribery claims. Leaders of his Shiv Sena, including Sanjay Shirsat, Uday Samant, and Dada Bhuse, rejected all allegations as part of a smear campaign. They said the audio clips and politics around them were being used maliciously to defame Eknath Shinde and demanded an inquiry.