Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday, October 30, accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of paying huge amounts of money to 20-30 MLAs of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to switch sides ahead of the Munugode bye-poll. Chief Minister KCR< as he is popularly known, alleged that “brokers” of the BJP offered the sitting legislators Rs 100 crore each.
Rao said, "You have seen yesterday. (BJP thinks) there is one KCR who is talking loudly. Let's see his (political) end. They have sent brokers to buy each MLA for Rs 100 crore. They wanted to buy 20 or 30 MLAs and topple KCR's government and encroach Telangana so that they can implement privatisation as per their will." His statement comes a day after three men, alleged to be BJP agents, were arrested and remanded to judicial custody for allegedly bribing the TRS MLAs.
Based on a complaint by Pilot Rohith Reddy, one of the TRS legislators, cases under relevant sections — criminal conspiracy, offering bribe and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 — were filed against Ramachandra Bharati alias Satish Sharma, Nanda Kumar and Simhayaji Swamy on October 26 night. According to the FIR copy, Rohith Reddy alleged that the accused offered him Rs 100 crore and in return, the legislator had to leave the TRS and contest as a BJP candidate in the upcoming Assembly elections.
"Four sons of soil (MLAs) came with me (today for the meeting). Day before yesterday some Delhi brokers came to buy our Telangana self-respect and offered Rs 100 crore. But our sons of soil hit them with their left slippers, saying they were not for sale," the CM said, adding they wanted to purchase the legislators like "cattle" in the open market.
"Who provided Rs 100 crore that was offered to the MLAs? Inquiry has to be done into this. Who is behind the issue? Are they (whoever masterminded the issue) entitled to continue in their respective posts?" KCR asked.
Responding to Rao's charges, senior BJP leader and Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy wrote on Twitter, "Today you call them Delhi brokers. Through brokerism (sic) only you encouraged all the MLAs who have joined your party earlier."
"I am conveying one thing. KCR garu, we have no intention of toppling your government. You may have the idea of toppling your own government and acquiring sympathy so that it becomes an agenda in the elections. Our party does not have such intentions. Already you have lost your respect among people. People are loathing you and your party," Reddy told a press conference.
Meanwhile, the ruling TRS in Telangana has withdrawn general consent granted to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), effectively stopping the national investigative agency from probing the alleged poaching of TRS MLAs by the BJP.
In a Government Order issued by the Home Department on August 30, the government of Telangana said that it is withdrawing all previous general consents issued by the state government under section 6 of the Delhi Special Establishment Act, 1946 (approval of Union government to conduct inquiry or investigation).