Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao is accusing the BJP of plotting to overthrow his government by purchasing Telangana Rashtra Samiti (now renamed as Bharat Rashtra Samiti) MLAs. What is the alleged plot, and what happened? We explain. BJP 'poaching' MLAs: What has the TRS MLA alleged? On October 26 night, Cyberabad Police raided a farmhouse in Moinabad on the outskirts of Hyderabad and arrested three persons who, they said, were offering bribes to four TRS MLAs to switch to the BJP. Police said that TRS MLA from Tandur, P Rohith Reddy, had alerted them earlier in the day that three persons allegedly associated with the BJP were coming to meet him and offered to pay him Rs 100 crores to join the BJP. Reddy also told police that the trio had asked him to bring three other MLAs—G Balraj, Harvardhan Reddy and R Kantha Rao—and they would be offered Rs 50 crores each to join the BJP. Police said that based on Reddy’s tip-off, they set up spy cameras and voice recorders to trap the trio in the process of offering to purchase the MLAs. Police said that after the trio arrived at the farmhouse, they spoke with the MLAs who recorded everything and then gave a signal to police waiting outside who raided the farmhouse and arrested the three accused. A lot of drama occurred before, during, and after this operation. Several media persons received tip-offs that they should reach the farmhouse to cover sensational news. ‘We are ready to spend ₹50 Crores on each MLA. @blsanthosh will confirm & arrange a meeting with @AmitShah’ 👇 #LotusLeaks pic.twitter.com/2hoKBP1Fr7 — YSR (@ysathishreddy) November 4, 2022 Videos taken by media personnel prior to the police raid showed the accused trio sitting at one table while the MLAs were seated on a sofa a little further away. The police raid was recorded live by some local news broadcasters. As per the FIR filed by MLA Rohith Reddy, the trio told him that if he did not join the BJP, he would face criminal cases and raids by the Enforcement Directorate and CBI, while the Telangana government would be brought down. Who are the three men accused of trying to bribe the TRS MLAs? Police arrested Ramachandra Bharati alias Satish Sharma, a priest (Pandit) residing at Sector 31, Faridabad, Haryana; Kore Nandu Kumar, a Hyderabad-based businessman; and D Simhayaji, a priest and native of Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. Nandu Kumar, who is a native of Pargi in Vikarabad district in which TRS MLA Rohith Reddy’s Tandur constituency is located, is a friend of Rohith Reddy. Simhayaji was the head priest at the Sri Mantraja Peetham at Ramanatha village in Chinnamandem in the newly-created Anamaya district in Andhra Pradesh, till 2019. He is also listed as a member of Estah, a Bengaluru-based organisation, which according to their website was established in 2009, “with the intent of supporting and encouraging rural people especially farmers to achieve sustained economic growth through agriculture and community development.’’ However, after 2019, his occupation is not known and police say he told them he works as a pandit, performing religious rituals at homes. All three were listed by police in court documents as BJP workers but they denied any association with the party. The BJP has also issued a statement that they are not party members and has filed a petition in the Telangana High Court to hand over the probe of the allegations to the CBI. Who are the four TRS MLAs? The four MLAs are P Rohith Reddy (Tandur Assembly Constituency); Rega Kantha Rao (Pinapaka); B Harshvardhan Reddy (Kollapur); and Guvvala Balaraju (Achampet). P Rohith Reddy, Rega Kantha Rao and B Harshvardhan Reddy were elected on Congress tickets in the December 2018 Assembly elections but joined the BRS in June 2019 along with nine other Congress MLAs. Balaraju is a director at GBR Infrastructures Private Limited with its office at Gachibowli in Hyderabad. Rohith Reddy, who started his career in the now-defunct Praja Rajyam Party floated by actor-turned-politician K Chiranjeevi, is a director at Everest Infra Ventures (India) Private Limited. Harshvardhan Reddy is an advocate while Kantha Rao is in the field of agriculture while his wife is a school teacher. What happened after the arrest of the three accused? On the evening of October 27, when the Cyberabad Police produced the trio before a judge for the special court of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) cases, seeking police custody of the accused, the judge declined and dismissed the police petition saying that they could not produce any evidence that they were indulging in bribing. The judge also pointed out that police did not produce any cash that was allegedly being offered as the bribe. The judge directed the police to release the trio but directed them to stay put in Hyderabad. Cyberabad Police gave them notices to appear before them when they are asked to for the investigation. Cyberabad Police filed a revision petition in the High Court against the ACB Court’s order, and on October 30, the HC set aside the ACB Court’s order stating that there was enough evidence against the accused, and asked the trio to surrender before the Cyberabad Police Commissioner within 24 hours. After the HC order, the trio was re-arrested and produced before the special court for a hearing of the ACB case, which sent the three people to 14 days’ judicial custody. The trio filed an appeal in the Supreme Court on November 1, and the SC on Friday issued notices to the Telangana state government seeking its response. What is the fallout of this alleged operation to purchase MLAs? The alleged incident happened against the backdrop of a high-stakes and fiercely contested by-election in the Munugodu Assembly Constituency. Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao made a scathing attack on the BJP, alleging that it conspired to topple his democratically elected government by trying to purchase its MLAs. Stating the four MLAs refused the offer of crores, KCR said “Telangana’s self-respect is not for sale. They refused crores of rupees offered to them by brokers sent from Delhi to switch loyalties. This is Telangana’s flag of self-respect.’’ KCR hinted that BJP’s top leaders were involved in “operation lotus” to topple his government. At a media conference on November 3 evening, he showed videos which purportedly show the accused three persons of offering bribes. The CM said that they were repeatedly dropping the names of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. The BJP has denied all the allegations, stating the entire episode was planned and scripted at Pragati Bhavan (KCR’s residence) to embarrass the BJP as he feared a loss at Munugode.
