MUMBAI: Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut on Monday posted a viral photo of Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule sitting at a poker table in Macau, China, and alleged Bawankule squandered Rs 3.5 crore in three hours in a poker game. The BJP responded by sharing photographs of Opposition leaders, setting off a political slugfest over propriety.
Raut said he has five videos and 27 photos of Bawankule to prove he played poker and blew `3.5 crore in three hours. Raut posted the first picture of Bawankule sitting at a poker table and asked his social media followers to zoom out and recognise the person in the photograph. Raut said it was only a trailer and that the entire film would be out soon.
After the image went viral, Bawankule issued a clarification from his official X handle saying he was sitting in a restaurant which also had a casino when the image was clicked. “I was staying at a hotel in Macau along with my family. On the ground floor of this hotel, there is a restaurant and a casino. After dinner, I was sitting in the restaurant along with my family when this photo was clicked,” he said. Bawankule then put out photos of his Macau trip in which he is seen with his family.
Maharashtra BJP, too, put out a picture of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray attending a social gathering recently held in honour of English footballer David Beckham. In the picture, Aaditya was seen holding a glass. The BJP put out a poser, asking what he was drinking. The party said, “Our state president has never gambled in his life. This area is in the vicinity of a place where he was staying with his family.
However, those whose life has been gambled away can’t see beyond it. Please tell us (Sanjay Raut) as to what brand of whiskey is in Aaditya Thackeray’s glass,” the state BJP unit wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
State Congress chief Nana Patole also jumped into this fray and asked when Maharashtra is facing a severe drought and issues like Maratha reservation are flaring up, the state BJP chief was busy in a casino.
‘5 videos and 27 photos’
Sanjay Raut said he has five videos and 27 photos of BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule to prove he played poker and blew `3.5 crore in three hours. Raut posted the first picture of Bawankule sitting at a poker table and asked his social media followers to zoom out and recognise the person in the photo.