Cyberabad police detain 3 for allegedly offering cash to 4 TRS MLAs to switch sides

The four MLAs are Rega Kantha Rao (Pinapaka), Pilot Rohit Reddy (Tandur), Beeram Harshavardhan Reddy (Kollapur), and Guvvala Balaraju (Achampet).

Police not revealing much

The police commissioner, however, did not say which party the emissaries represented or how much cash was offered.

Ramachandra Bharati, who is said to be from an ashram in Faridabad, Haryana. (Supplied)

He also did not commit himself to how much cash the police had found in the farmhouse, though unofficial estimates put the figure at ₹15 crore, which was supposedly the down payment, if the MLAs accepted their offer.

Simhayajulu, said to be a swamy from Tirupati. (Supplied)

According to Raveendra, the three persons who tried to persuade the MLAs to switch sides were: Ramachandra Bharati of an ashram in Faridabad, Haryana; Simhayajulu from Tirupati; and a local hotelier Nandakumar.

Hyderabad hotelier Nandakumar. (Supplied)

Raveendra said that the information that they received was that the three persons were trying to entice the four MLAs. He said the police would move forward in the investigation after taking legal opinion.

The police had not yet made any arrests till late on Wednesday, but were interrogating the two godmen and the businessman who held talks with the MLAs. The police are yet to register a case.

MLAs meet with KCR

The four legislators left the farmhouse after giving the information that the police needed.

They did not make any statement to the media on who those who tried to reach out to them were, and how much they had offered and which party they represented.

Three of the four MLAs, barring Pilot Rohit Reddy, met with Chief Minister and TRS supremo K Chandrashekar Rao at Pragati Bhavan after they left the farmhouse.

According to sources, the three persons had tried to offer up to ₹100 crore to the four MLAs if they crossed the fence but the police are yet to confirm the amount or the purpose for which the funds were offered.

However, it is widely believed that it was an attempt to purchase the MLAs outright.

Sources told South First that Ramachandra Bharati, who is known to Pilot Rohit Reddy, contacted him to mobilise other MLAs to switch their party for huge sums of money.

After asking the emissaries to meet them at the farmhouse, the MLAs gave them away to the police.

However, Guvvala Balaraju, the Achampet MLA, said while leaving the farmhouse, that the emissaries were representing the BJP and that they tried to buy them with cash and other inducements, but they had rejected the offer outright.

He said that they would stay with the TRS and that they cannot be bought over.

TRS accuses BJP and Amit Shah

Though the police were circumspect, the TRS went on the offensive as soon as the news broke, accusing Union Home Minister and BJP No. 2 Amit Shah of orchestrating the operation to buy off the party’s MLAs.

Y Sathish Reddy, TRS social media convenor, alleged in a series of tweets that “three agents” of Shah were involved in failed operation to bribe the TRS MLAs.

He also alleged that one the three emissaries, local hotelier Nandakumar, was close to Union Tourism Minister Kishan Reddy.

The ‘Three Agents’ of Amit shah who came to bribe TRS MLAs are now decoded & bursted.

Here are evidences of their links with BJP & RSS ?#TelanganaNotForSale pic.twitter.com/NiHtjbAD8k

— YSR (@ysathishreddy) October 26, 2022

Union minister ‘Kishan Reddy’ close aid caught red handed in today’s Amit Shah’s failed operation of buying MLAs! ? pic.twitter.com/KgJP1kIpGb

— YSR (@ysathishreddy) October 26, 2022

TRS ministers react

Reacting to the incident, Legislative Affairs Minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy said: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah’s despicable politics of enticing MLAs would not yield any results in Telangana. (TRS MLAs) would not sell themselves out the way Congress MLA Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy did to BJP.”

He alleged that Modi and Amit Shah were stooping to the level of trying to purchase MLAs as they are jealous of the support KCR is getting nationwide.

“TRS MLAs are genuine Telangana protagonists. They will not yield to BJP’s inducements.

Forest Minister A Indarkaran Reddy salid BJP was making a mockery of democracy.

“It has no faith in democracy. It is trying to deal a body blow to TRS. That is why it is resorting to loathsome politics. They made a vain attempt to purchase the MLAs. BJP may have succeeded in pulling down governments in other states using money but it is not possible in Telangana,” he contended.

BJP denies involvement

BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar dismissed the entire incident as a “comedy show” for which the script, screenplay, and direction had originated from Pragati Bhavan.

He dared chief minister KCR to take a vow at Yadadri temple that the incident at the farmhouse was genuine. He said he was ready to go to the temple if the chief minister gave him the time and date.

He said if the incident was true how come the police let off the MLAs as they were, according to the police, involved in talks.

He said that the people were “laughing heartily at the drama” that had been enacted at a farmhouse.

It was ridiculous, he contended, that the MLAs should call the commissioner of police, asking him to save them from some people who were offering them inducements.

He said, with the incident, the chief minister had himself made the line clear for the BJP to win the Munugode by-election.

He said the truth of the entire episode would be revealed if the CCTV footage and the call history of the four MLAs and the three emissaries were examined.