NAGPUR: Two city BJP leaders have landed in the

for purportedly abusing Union transport minister

in a mobile phone conversation, audio clip of which has gone viral on

.

City BJP president Sudhakar Kohale has summoned the two — Jaihari Singh Thakur and Abhay Tidke — on Wednesday for seeking an explanation. “We will take action on them after hearing their version,” he told TOI.

Thakur, a vice-president of BJP’s Nagpur city unit, told TOI that the voice in the audio clip was not his and he had no idea about it. Tidke is a city executive committee member. He could not be contacted.

It is not known who recorded

and how it went viral on WhatsApp. The conversation took place when the election results were not out. In the audio clip, the two leaders are heard saying that Gadkari would lose the election and abusing him. They accused him of neglecting grassroots party workers like them.

During the conversation, the leaders claimed that as the minister (Gadkari) would lose, Sudhakar Deshmukh (Nagpur West MLA) would contest from Nagpur on a BJP ticket next time (in 2024). According to the duo, Deshmukh was no longer interested in contesting assembly elections. The two leaders further discussed how Gadkari was upset over some communities for voting against him.

Next they claimed that city Congress president Vikas Thakre was very close to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and hence the former would contest from Nagpur West on a BJP ticket in the assembly elections scheduled in October this year.