India, Oct. 25 -- Days after Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil played audio clips that allegedly referred to a Rs.500-crore bribe given to him by deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde to form a third front during the 2024 assembly elections, a war of words has broken out between the Mahayuti allies and the opposition. On Saturday, the BJP accused Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut of fabricating the clips to defame ruling party leaders.

While the tapes initially had the BJP and Shinde-led Shiv Sena at each other's throats on account of Shinde's MLA son Shrikant being referred to as the conduit for the bribe, the two allies on Saturday decided to call a truce, and Shinde asked his partymen to bury the hatchet and concentrate on the...