BJP leaders on Saturday sought a case against Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut over his purported role in creating an audio clip mentioning a Rs 500-crore payout to Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange, while seeking to contain differences with ally Eknath Shinde’s party over the controversy.
BJP chief spokesperson Navnath Ban accused Raut of using artificial intelligence to fabricate the recording and alleged that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was behind a “contract” to defame the BJP.
“Sanjay Raut orchestrated the conspiracy from a war room in Navi Mumbai’s Vashi. The contract to defame the BJP has been taken by Raut from Rahul Gandhi. Raut has been consistently pushing Rahul Gandhi’s agenda over the past few days,” Ban told reporters.
Ban alleged that Raut had worked on the clip for nearly two months, combining voice samples available on YouTube. He claimed the purported conversations were scripted at the office of Saamana, the Marathi mouthpiece of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT).
“Raut had scripted the purported conversations at the ‘Saamana’ newspaper’s office and initially considered an allegation involving Rs 100 crore before raising the amount to Rs 500 crore to attract greater media attention,” Ban alleged.
He claimed the recording was handed to a person from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, who passed it to Jarange. According to Ban, the aim was to provoke a confrontation among the BJP, Shinde and Jarange while politically benefiting the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT).
Jarange released the clip in Jalna on Thursday, alleging a conspiracy to silence him and weaken the Maratha agitation. He made it public after Shinde challenged him to substantiate accusations that the deputy chief minister had secured Rs 500 crore from the BJP and routed it through his son, MP Shrikant Shinde.
In the recording, a woman purportedly claimed that Rs 500 crore had reached Jarange through Shrikant Shinde. Speakers were also purportedly heard discussing ways to counter the activist’s growing political influence in Marathwada ahead of the 2024 assembly elections.
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis ordered a forensic probe on Friday, while Jarange demanded an impartial Special Investigation Team inquiry. Ban and BJP MLC Prasad Lad said on Saturday that an SIT probe had been ordered. Lad also cited minister of state for home Pankaj Bhoyar’s statement that the team had been constituted.
Ban said he would write to Fadnavis seeking an investigation into Raut’s purported role and registration of a case, if warranted. He also sought a probe into whether Raut had received funding from Rahul Gandhi.
Lad demanded that Raut be named as the main accused and questioned about the recording’s creation and circulation.
“Sanjay Raut was the writer of the audio clip and conceptualised what each person should say and how they should say it. The voice-overs were generated through AI. Raut should be questioned first,” Lad alleged.
He said he would write to Fadnavis, deputy chief ministers Shinde and Sunetra Pawar, the state director-general of police and the minister of state for home, seeking Raut’s interrogation and an inquiry into the Saamana studio.
BJP seeks to contain differences with Shinde’s party
Lad also sought to counter the perception that the controversy had widened differences between the BJP and the Shinde-led Shiv Sena, both constituents of Maharashtra’s ruling Mahayuti alliance.
Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam had on Friday accused Jarange of colluding with a section of the BJP to politically “finish a Maratha leader”, an apparent reference to Shinde.
Lad said Shiv Sena leader Uday Samant had subsequently declared the issue closed after discussions with Shinde and Fadnavis. He also referred to reports that Fadnavis had spoken to Kadam on Saturday and advised him against remarks that could damage the alliance.
“We respect Eknath Shinde and regard him as our elder brother. If this has happened, the matter is closed from our side as well, and nobody from the BJP will discuss it further,” Lad said.
He maintained that the BJP, Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and RPI(A), all constituents of the Mahayuti, remained united.