Four Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MLAs were allegedly offered a total of Rs 250 crore as bribe, according to highly placed sources in the Telangana government, a day after intense drama erupted at a farmhouse in Hyderabad over allegations of horse-trading by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These MLAs were allegedly lured to join the BJP.
The source, who is knowledgeable of the Cyberabad Police’s probe into the case, claims that the other three MLAs—Bheeram Harshavardhan Reddy, P Rega Kantha Rao, and Guvvala Balaraju—were each allegedly promised Rs 50 crore, while Pilot Rohith Reddy allegedly received a Rs 100 crore offer. Rohit Reddy has reported two people, Satish Sharma alias Ramachandra Bharati and Hyderabad businessman Nandakumar, to the Rajendranagar Police on October 26 for allegedly offering him Rs 100 core.
“There is video and audio evidence that corroborates that this enormous sum of money was promised,” the highly placed person added. It is startling,” the insider stated of the evidence, which is anticipated to be made public later on Thursday, October 27. Amit Shah, a BJP leader and the home minister, was represented by the accused, the source continued.
The scandal started on October 26 when the Cyberabad Police searched a farmhouse in Hyderabad’s Aziz Nagar where the three accused—Satish Sharma, Nandakumar, and Simhayaji Swamy—were said to have met with the four MLAs. It is said that Simhayaji is from Tirupati and Satish Sharma is from Delhi. The Cyberabad Police filed a FIR on Thursday, charging all three with criminal conspiracy under the IPC.
The three are alleged in the FIR to have offered MLA Rohit Reddy not only money but also “top central government positions and contracts” in exchange for joining the BJP.
According to the FIR, “They (Satish Sharma and Nandakumar) further warned that there will be criminal cases and raids by the Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigations if he does not join the BJP and that they would overthrow the Telangana government run by the TRS.”
According to the FIR, Rohit Reddy also expressed his displeasure at the two’s request that he recruit additional TRS MLAs by promising to pay them each Rs. 50 crore. The three suspects allegedly met Rohith Reddy and other MLAs in the farmhouse to “finalize the transaction,” according to Rohith Reddy.
However, the state chapter of the BJP has angrily denied Rohith Reddy’s assertions. “Horse trade is not done by the BJP. A charge this serious must have a foundation. However, there isn’t. All of the accused people are neither party members nor do they hold any office in the BJP. Even if our top leaders’ names appear in the audio or video clip, those are just claims, according to Telangana BJP spokesperson Krishna Sagar Rao.
The claims won’t have an impact on the party, he claimed. However, the BJP’s leaders, including Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, have come out to vehemently deny the accusations as the Munugode bypoll is scheduled to take place on November 3. A three-way fight between the TRS, the Congress, and the BJP is anticipated to take place in Munugode. Additionally, elections for the Telangana Legislative Assembly are planned for 2023.
The source further said that Satish Sharma, the accused, was a senior member of the RSS. He frequently accompanied Amit Shah on his travels, as well as maybe Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We are dealing with a very charged investigation.
According to the source, the MLAs were allegedly called well in advance in an effort to persuade them to join the BJP before JP Nadda, the party’s president, visited Munugode on October 31. On the final election day, Nadda is anticipated to hold a public event in Munugode. The BJP is running Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy in Munugode, a former Congress member. His retirement from the Congress was what forced the byelection.
In the meantime, Krishna Sagar Rao of the BJP declared, “We are certain of winning the elections because this drama produced by the TRS would backfire and drive people to gather behind us.”
However, according to the source who is familiar with the investigation, neither the accused nor the MLAs who made the complaint exchanged any money. The insider verified that although the offer was made, no money was exchanged. K Chandrashekar Rao, the chief minister of Telangana, is anticipated to update the media on the matter in Hyderabad.
