Hyderabad: Ahead of the essential Munugode meeting bypoll, Telangana politics heated up after Cyberabad Police arrested a temple priest and two others for allegedly attempting to lure 4 MLAs of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to affix the Bharatiya Janata Celebration (BJP).
The ‘BJP brokers’ had been arrested Wednesday late night time from a farmhouse of Pilot Rohith Reddy, one of many 4 TRS legislators, within the metropolis outskirts, it mentioned.
The police mentioned they carried out the raid after a tip-off from Rohith Reddy who was current on the farmhouse together with fellow MLAs B. Harshvardhan Reddy, G. Balraju, and Rega Kantha Rao. It’s nonetheless unclear if the police seized money within the operation.
The First Data Report (FIR), accessed by ThePrint, recognized the three accused as Ramachandra Bharati alias Satish Sharma from Faridabad, businessman Nandakumar from Hyderabad and Simhayaji Swamy from Tirupati. Cyberabad Police Commissioner Stephen Ravindra mentioned that Bharati was a temple priest in Faridabad.
The trio was charged beneath IPC sections associated to felony conspiracy, felony intimidation, bribe amongst others in addition to the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Hours after the arrests, video clips of the 4 MLAs together with the ‘brokers’ on the farmhouse went viral on social media. The MLAs are seen calmly sitting on a sofa, sipping espresso within the clips.
In line with the FIR filed based mostly on the grievance by Rohith Reddy, Bharati and Nandakumar, who allegedly belong to the BJP, negotiated with him to affix BJP and contest the subsequent elections. For this, the complainant claimed that he was provided Rs 100 crore together with civil contracts and different positions of central authorities with financial advantages.
“On Wednesday, the MLA was contacted once more and knowledgeable that they [the accused] had been coming to his farmhouse in Aziz Nagar, Moinabad for negotiation and knowledgeable him to mobilise a number of extra TRS MLAs for providing them bribes of Rs 50 crore every to affix BJP. In addition they additional induced him and different MLAs to obtain quantities and to discharge their public duties improperly and dishonestly in order that the Telangana authorities is destabilised,” the report mentioned.
The ‘brokers’ additionally threatened the MLAs with ED, CBI instances if they didn’t be a part of BJP, it added.
Including gas to the controversy, outdated photos of Bharati with Union Ministers G. Kishan Reddy and Rajnath Singh surfaced on social media.
It was adopted by {a photograph} of Nandakumar with TRS Rajya Sabha MP Santosh Kumar and one other from an occasion the place Telangana Finance Minister T. Harish Rao was current. Each Santosh Kumar and Harish Rao are the nephews of Telangana Chief Minister Ok. Chandrashekar Rao.
One other set of viral photographs confirmed Nandakumar with Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay and with TRS MLA Harshvardhan Reddy.
This political drama comes at a time when the TRS and the BJP are aggressively making ready for the Munugode bypoll on 3 November. Each the events have been alleging one another of distribution of enormous quantities of money and liquor.
Final week, a video during which a BJP chief was heard speaking on cellphone had gone viral. BJP leaders had claimed that the chief was speaking to Telangana IT Minister and KCR’s son Ok. T. Rama Rao, who was purportedly heard looking for the BJP chief’s help within the Munugode bypoll.
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BJP denies affiliation, calls for judicial inquiry
Calling it an inexpensive political drama, Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay demanded a judicial inquiry. “It’s solely a faux drama, scripted by Pragathi Bhavan [CMO-cum-residence]. We’re prepared to return to the temple, the police have narrated a laughable drama,” he mentioned in a late night time press convention.
Sanjay additionally lashed out on the ruling get together for dragging seers and clergymen to create the scene, calling it an try and taint the picture of Hindu Dharma. The BJP state chief additionally challenged the CM to take oath at Yadadri temple that he was unaware about this row.
On Thursday, Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy referred to as the arrests as “staged” and raised a number of questions together with why the MLAs went to the farmhouse and agreed to fulfill sure brokers.
“They invited themselves, took images, referred to as police, ready script, course, chosen actors and did make up. The whole lot occurred beneath the supervision of Pragati Bhavan,” the tourism minister mentioned.
The BJP moved the Telangana Excessive Court docket demanding that the case be transferred both to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or any impartial company for truthful investigation.
TRS MLA Balka Suman alleged that the BJP is resorting to such ‘low-cost methods’ and concentrating on the get together after KCR introduced his plans to ascertain a nationwide get together that will combat in opposition to the saffron get together on the Centre.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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