Hyderabad police arrest BJP-linked godmen trying to bribe TRS MLAs
The Hyderabad Police on Wednesday night raided a farmhouse on the outskirts of the city, in Aziz Nagar, and detained three people for trying to bribe four Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MLAs.
The raid happened after the four MLAs themselves—Guvvala Balaraju, Rega Kantha Rao, Beeram Harshavardhan Reddy and Panjugula Rohit Reddy—informed the Cyberabad Police about the attempt.
The three accused have been identified as Ramchandra Bharati (33) alias Satish Sharma, a godman associated with a temple in Faridabad, and living in Delhi, D Simhayaji (45), a Peethadipati or priest from Tirupati and Nandakumar (48), a businessman from Saroornagar.
Ramchandra Bharati has been identified as the main accused by the police. Sources said that huge cash was seized from the farmhouse.
The TRS (now officially changed to Bharat Rashtra Samithi, or BRS) is calling this attempt at bribing a part of a conspiracy by the BJP to usurp power in the state, by luring its MLAs with cash, important positions and contracts. Party leaders have recalled similar successful efforts in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.
Union Minister and senior BJP leader from Telangana, G Kishan Reddy, however, said today that TRS’s claim is false and that it is simply an attempt to divert people’s attention from the party’s imminent defeat in the Munugode bypoll.
It needs to be noted that these arrests have come just eight days before the assembly by-election for Munugode constituency in Nalgonda district on November 3. And several crores (with around Rs 10 crore from Hyderabad)—all meant for Nalgonda district, according to police—have already been seized. A BJP leader in Munugode has been identified as one of the recipients, say sources.
This is the second seizure of cash meant as a bribe for MLAs in three months. On the evening of July 30, police in Bengal intercepted a sports utility vehicle in Howrah in which three Congress MLAs of Jharkhand—Irfan Ansari, Rajesh Kachchap and Naman Bixal Kongari—were travelling, and found nearly half a crore in cash.
The Congress and police sources the money was meant for inducing Congress MLAs of Jharkhand to ditch the party and join the BJP, and thus help the latter come to power by tilting the thin majority enjoyed by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led coalition in its favour. A connection with the BJP chief minister of Assam was also alleged. The BJP, like in Telangana’s case, had denied any involvement.
Protesting against the conspiracy, soon after the arrests yesterday night, three TRS ministers, Gangula Kamalakar, A Indrakaran Reddy and V Srinivas Goud, staged a flash sit-in on NH-65 (Hyderabad-Vijayawada) at Choutuappal, holding up vehicular traffic. TRS leaders across the state also took out protest rallies.
The attempt to bribe the TRS MLAs is a developing story and much more is expected to be revealed in the coming days.
In the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation election in 2020, the BJP had performed commendably, increasing its tally from four to 48. This has definitely enthused the party, and political experts say it will be trying by hook or by crook to become a big winner in the state in 2024 (general election) and beyond.
