‘Operation Lotus’ in Telangana? Know ‘high trading drama’ between BJP and TRS ahead of Munugode bypolls

High political drama erupted in Telangana on Thursday after the ruling party Telangana Rashtra Samiti and opposition Bhartiya Janta Party launched a wide list of allegations against each other, revolving around trying to poach TRS MLAs.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s party TRS has accused BJP of trying to run “Operation Lotus” in the state by trying to poach MLAs from the party, offering them Rs 100 crores to make the switch, as both the parties remain to wait for the Munugode bypolls.

This whole row erupted when the Telangana police claimed that they have detained three people from a farmhouse in Ranga Reddy district of Telangana for allegedly offering a bribe of Rs 100 crore to Telangana MLA Pilot Rohith Reddy for defecting to the BJP.

The FIR filed in the case states, “They informed that three persons namely Ramachandra Bharati alias Satish Sharma of Delhi, one Nanda Kumar, and one Simhayaji Swamy of Tirupathi would come to my farmhouse to finalize the deal of joining in BJP by resigning from the TRS party. Therefore, he requested to take necessary legal action against the above persons and the persons behind this conspiracy for offering him a bribe to resign from TRS and also to join in BJP by indulging in unethical and undemocratic ways by offering huge amounts as a bribe.”

TRS claimed that a secret meeting was conducted in a Hyderabad farmhouse to poach party MLAs in BJP as a part of ‘Operation Lotus’. This comes just a few weeks after TRS chief KCR launched his own national party to oppose BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

While TRS attacked BJP over trying to allegedly poach its MLAs, the saffron party said that the claims were fabricated by the ruling party in Telangana. BJP claimed that the entire claim was fabricated by KCR in a “horse trading drama” to deflect attention from the upcoming Munugode bypolls.

BJP leader and Union Minister G Kishan Reddy slammed TRS over the recent developments in Telangana, saying that KCR’s party has already accepted their “imminent defeat” in the Munugode bypolls in the state, which are to be held on November 3.

Refuting the claims, the Bhartiya Janta Party has sought a probe from the Supreme Court in the matter, urging the authorities to get to the bottom of the matter.

READ | ‘UK and India share so much, excited about…’: What Britain PM Rishi Sunak said in first call with PM Modi