'Who Gave Nilesh Rane the Authority to Do This?', BJP Questions Shiv Sena Leader Over 'Political Raid'

Mumbai: BJP leader Chandrashekhar Bawankule has hit out at Shiv Sena leader Nilesh Rane over his overnight sting operation at a BJP minister’s residence in Maharashtra's Malvan, calling it nothing more than a “political raid.”

A video circulating online shows Rane entering the minister’s house and carrying out a surprise late-night raid at the house of a local BJP functionary. Rane claimed he acted on complaints that cash was being distributed to voters. During the raid, he claims to have discovered a bag full of suspicious cash in the bedroom. 

In a live Instagram video, Rane displayed the bag lying on the bed and alleged that three to four more similar bags were hidden inside the house. He then called the police and election officials to the spot.
 

Bawankule has raised questions on Rane’s right to carry out such an operation. "What Nilesh Rane did was wrong. Who gave Nilesh Rane the authority to do this? Conducting a sting operation by going into someone’s house and entering their bedroom is not acceptable," he said. 

Further, he said that the police must determine the actual purpose of the cash and urged the Election Commission to step in. “If money were exchanged, action should be taken. But the police need to investigate whose house the money was found in and why it was there,” he stated.

Tensions between the Shinde Sena and the BJP have spiked ahead of the December 2 municipal polls in Malvan, where both allies are locked in a direct fight.

Bawankule also warned against jumping to conclusions, saying it was “wrong” to assume the BJP intended to distribute money. “It is not acceptable to assume that the BJP came to distribute money in someone’s house,” he added.

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