BARAMATI: Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar alleged Wednesday that the voice notes in audio clips released by his ally BJP and purportedly featuring a conversation about using bitcoin in poll funding were those of his cousin and NCP (SCP) working president Supriya Sule, and state Congress chief Nana Patole.
“There are some people who mimic others’ voices to perfection. However, I know Patole for a long time as he was with me in the assembly, and I can say that the voices in those voice notes are those of Supriya and Patole’s,” Ajit said.
Sule contested Ajit’s allegation and said the voice notes were AI-generated.
He is Ajit Pawar; he is capable of saying anything,” Supriya Sule said in Baramati. “I have already submitted a complaint. It is unfortunate that some people are misusing technology with mala fide intent. Police will have to find out who the mastermind is.”
Sule said she had consistently voiced her opposition to cryptocurrencies during debates in Parliament and that the release of audio clips ahead of polling was “a desperate attempt to malign me”.
In a series of posts on X, Supriya accused BJP of spreading misinformation to mislead voters. “Familiar tactics of false narratives are being employed the night before polling. We condemn these acts that undermine our democracy,” she wrote.
The controversy erupted Tuesday when the allegation of encashing ill-gotten bitcoin to influence voting was levelled by ex-IPS officer Ravindranath Patil. ANI quoted him as saying that Sule and Patole were hand-in-glove.
Patil was charged in a 2018 cryptocurrency fraud case.
At a subsequent press conference, BJP functionary Sudhanshu Trivedi released the audio clips, alleging financial misconduct involving cryptocurrencies on the eve of the assembly election.
NCP (SCP) chief Sharad Pawar dismissed the charge, saying that claims by individuals with a history of imprisonment “don’t warrant acknowledgement”. The patriarch’s daughter said she planned to file criminal and civil defamation suits against BJP’s Trivedi.
Ajit’s nephew and opponent in the Baramati assembly seat, Yugendra Shrinivas Pawar, declined to comment.
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