Almost two decades after being declared runner-up of Indian Idol’s inaugural season, singer Amit Sana recently claimed in an interview with podcast host Siddharth Kannan that voting lines closed for him two days in advance. The winner of the finale, singer Abhijeet Sawant, has reacted to the allegations, calling Sana “naive”.

“There are several reasons why you lose a competition. He shouldn’t forget that he was a runner-up. It wasn’t like we both were the only talented boys in the show, there were several other talented people in that competition,” Sawant told News18, adding, “I feel his people have conveyed such [rumours] to him and it might have got sentimental.”

Sawant also dismissed Sana’s allegation that the former’s win was influenced by “political clout”. The Mar Jaavan Mit Jaavan (Aashiq Banaya Aapne, 2005) singer added: “It can be their opinion, too. Entire India was voting for us. How is it possible that one of us was getting votes and the other wasn’t? Indian Idol was being monitored by the international team. They used to be there on sets all the time.”

The finale of the show aired on March 5, 2005. Singer Rahul Vaidya was the last contestant to be eliminated before the finale was set up between Sawant and Sana.