Ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya has accused funds from a benami account of being used to promote vote jihad and allegedly push Bangladeshi Rohingyas into Mumbai.

Somaiya claimed that investigations revealed Rs 250 crore was transferred from 253 bank accounts linked to companies in North India into the benami account of one Siraj Mohammad. According to Somaiya, the companies involved were fictitious and were established and closed rapidly. The funds were allegedly transferred through hawala transactions to Surat, Ahmedabad, and Mumbai, with the money being routed to 125 different locations across Maharashtra. "This money is being used for vote jihad," Somaiya alleged.