MUMBAI, July 20 -- For the last one week, the Congress has been raising the issue of a honey-trap scandal in Maharashtra, and which they allege, involves as many as 72 politicians and bureaucrats. While there has been much chatter in political corridors, on Saturday, senior Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar formally claimed that the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was also pulled down with the help of the same honey-trap. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, however, on Friday stated that no complaints had been received about any honey trap. "Although the CM denied it, the government and the opposition have a lot of information about the honey-trap," alleged Wadettiwar. "We are keeping mum because we don't want to destroy anyone's career." The former leader of the opposition implied that the honey trap dated back several years. "It was because of the same CD of video recordings of honey-trap victims that the Eknath Shinde government came to power and the then MVA government was pulled down," he said. "It is a serious issue." In June 2022, the MVA government collapsed following a rebellion in the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde. Shinde walked out with 40 other MLAs and declared support to the BJP. He was appointed chief minister in the next government. The honey-trap scandal concerns several ministers and top officials being reportedly filmed in a compromising position at a luxury hotel in Nashik. The tapes are believed to have been used for blackmailing. Around 72 names have surfaced in the preliminary inquiry. Wadettiwar said members of the bureaucracy too had been trapped. "Many IAS officers, serving and retired, are involved; big shots are involved," he claimed. "I won't say more, but we will reveal everything at the appropriate time. We have very strong evidence." Wadettiwar chose to make the allegations days after former state Congress president Nana Patole displayed a pen drive in the assembly, claiming to have recordings of the alleged scandal which is connected to people in Mantralaya, Thane and Nashik. State Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal on Saturday claimed that "the threads" of the scandal "lead all the way to the Rs.20,000-crore corruption scam in the Samruddhi Mahamarg project"....