A day after Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil asked whether Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had told the BJP leadership to pay him Rs 500 crore to “silence” him, Shinde on Wednesday denied having given or received any such amount.“All our spokespersons are speaking on this. I have neither given 500 crores to anyone nor taken it from anyone. On what basis is Jarange speaking? He should have verified the facts before speaking,” Shinde told reporters in New Delhi.Shinde asked Jarange to submit evidence to the concerned authorities so that the truth could come out. “The entire state and country know Eknath Shinde. Everyone knows my working style. Mentioning Eknath Shinde makes headlines. Manoj Jarange is working for the Maratha community. When I was the Chief Minister, I worked to deliver justice to the community,” he said.Jarange made the allegation at his Dussehra rally in Beed on Tuesday afternoon. He said he had heard from some leaders that Shinde had told the BJP leadership to pay him Rs 500 crore to silence him. Jarange also asked whether the money had been paid through Shinde’s son, MP Shrikant Shinde, and demanded a response from the Deputy CM.After Jarange made the allegation, Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam criticised him at the party’s Dussehra rally in Mumbai, alleging that the activist’s fasts demanding Other Backward Class (OBC) status for Marathas were fake.“When Manoj Jarange goes on a fast, he secretly goes to the bathroom and eats, deceiving everyone. I request Eknath Shinde to order an inquiry into this,” Kadam said before Shinde addressed the rally.“Eknath Shinde is our deity. He is the deity of Shiv Sainiks, the deity of the Maratha community. If you speak against him, Maharashtra will not tolerate it, the Maratha community will not tolerate it,” Kadam added.Story continues below this adIn his speech at the same rally, Shinde did not address Jarange’s allegation.At a press conference on Wednesday, Jarange responded to Kadam’s remarks.“They cannot stab me in the back… I will not be destroyed; the Maratha is not cowardly… If someone steps forward and speaks up, I don’t spare them. This is a matter of my community’s existence. You are the ones who destroyed the community,” he said.Jarange added, “I didn’t speak against Ramdas Kadam either in the past. But if proof is needed, tomorrow at 11 o’clock, I will hold a press conference and provide it.”Story continues below this adMeanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut demanded at a press conference on Wednesday that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) immediately launch a money-laundering investigation and summon Shinde for questioning.“Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is also the Home Minister, should immediately register a case and hand over the investigation to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) and the ED,” Raut said.