₹2.5 crore from senior Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balsaheb Thackeray) leader Ambadas Danve, claiming that he could hack all the electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the Sambhajinagar Lok Sabha constituency. The arrested accused has been identified as Maruti Dhakne, a native of Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district. Dhakne had dialled Shiv Sena leader Ambadas Danve, the leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra legislative council, saying he could hack all the EVMs in the Sambhajinagar Lok Sabha constituency to get the desired result the party wanted.
For this, he demanded ₹2.5 crore from the Sena leader. Also Read: ‘Gaumutradhari Hindutva’: Uddhav Thackeray slams BJP, promises to reclaim 'lost glory of Maharashtra' Danave immediately lodged a complaint with the police. Following that, the police set a trap and gave money to Ambadas Danve.
Later, Dhakne was caught red-handed while accepting ₹1 lakh from a hotel in Pune, reported ABP Majha. Dhakne has been taken into custody by the Economic Offence Wing of the police. Voting in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar constituency, which was earlier known as Aurangabad, is scheduled to take place on May 13, in phase 4 of Lok Sabha elections. Also Read: Sanjay Nirupam returns to Shiv Sena after being expelled from Congress The seat was one of the bastions of the undivided Shiv Sena after Mumbai and Thane.
However, in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Chandrakant Khaire of undivided Shiv Sena was defeated by Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM's candidate Imtiaz Jaleel. Khaire lost the seat by a narrow margin of less than 4,500 votes. This year, Ambadas Danve wanted to contest Lok Sabha polls from the seat.
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