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Telangana MLA poaching case: Court order deals blow to TRS

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A Hyderabad court order rejecting police petition seeking judicial remand for three persons who allegedly tried to poach four MLAs of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) came as a big blow to the ruling party.
The police released Ramachandra Bharati alias Satish Sharma, Nanda Kumar and Simhayaji Swamy following the order by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Court judge.

Nearly 24 hours after arresting the three persons from a farmhouse near Hyderabad, the police produced them before the judge at his residence in Saroornagar on Thursday night.

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Judge G. Rajagopal, however, rejected the police petition for sending the accused to judicial custody, citing lack of evidence. He observed that the Prevention of Corruption Act does not apply to the case as there is no evidence of bribe money.
The judge told police to issue notices to the accused under Section 41 of Criminal Procedure Code for questioning.

Cyberabad police, which released the accused following the court order, are reportedly seeking legal opinion for their next course of action in the case.

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The accused said to be close to some top BJP leaders were arrested from a farmhouse at Moinabad on Wednesday night while they were allegedly trying to lure four MLAs of the TRS with offers of huge sums of cash, important positions and contracts.

On a complaint by one of the MLAs Pilot Rohit Reddy, police registered an First Information Report (FIR) against Ramachandra Bharati of Delhi, Nanda Kumar of Hyderabad and Simhayaji Swamy of Tirupati.

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The case was registered under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 171-B (bribery) read with 171-E (punishment of bribery), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) read with 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) and section 8 of Prevention of the Corruption Act.

According to the complainant, the accused offered him an amount of Rs 100 crore. They also offered to give Central government civil contract works and other high Central government positions for monetary benefits and lured him to join the BJP.

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The MLA told police that they warned that if he does not join the BJP, there will be criminal cases and raids by ED/CBI and the Telangana government led by TRS will be toppled by them.

The accused offered bribes of Rs 50 crore each to three other MLAs to join the BJP.

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On a tip-off by Rohit Reddy, Cyberabad police reached the farmhouse and arrested the three accused.

The accused, including two “godmen”, were questioned by the police at an undisclosed location throughout Thursday.

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However, the court refused to send them to judicial remand. This has dealt a blow to the TRS which has been accusing BJP of poaching its MLAs to destabilise the government.

The arrests had triggered tremors in the state politics. Ministers, TRS MPs, MLAs and other leaders had taken to the streets to protest against the BJP. The saffron party had denied the allegations and claimed that the drama was scripted by Chief Minister KCR to draw political mileage in view of the Munugode Assembly by-election.

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Though there have been speculations that the police recovered huge cash from the farmhouse, no such evidence was produced before the court.

Meanwhile, following the release, Nanda Kumar claimed that they were at the farmhouse for puja. “I have nothing to do with the allegations made,” he said. The businessman remarked that justice has prevailed in the case.

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BJP plans campaign against Rahul Gandhi’s ‘insult to backwards’

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New Delhi: The BJP has planned a campaign from April 6-14 to highlight Congress leader Rahul Gandhi‘s disqualification from the Lok Sabha as a decision stemming from his “insult to OBCs (other backward classes)” and the work done by the Modi government for the community.On Tuesday, the BJP’s OBC members from both Houses took out a march from Parliament complex to Vijay Chowk protesting against Gandhi’s comments on the “Modi surname“, which led to his disqualification, and demanded an apology.

Union minister Smriti Irani, who defeated Gandhi in the 2019 general election from Amethi, termed his refusal to apologise to the OBC community for his “indecent” comments yet another “manifestation of the Gandhi family’s political arrogance”.

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As Rahul Gandhi decides to move out, Mallikarjun Kharge offers his residence

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New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi formally informed the authorities on Tuesday that he will comply with the directive to vacate his official bungalow on 12, Tughlaq lane following his disqualification as a member of the Lok Sabha after his court conviction. Party president Mallikarjun Kharge suggested Gandhi could stay at his mother Sonia Gandhi‘s 10 Janpath official residence or else move to Kharge’s Rajaji Marg official residence.

Within a day after he received the official directive, Gandhi wrote back to the concerned official of the Lok Sabha secretariat. “As an elected member of the Lok Sabha over the last 4 terms, it is the mandate of the people to which I owe the happy memories of my time spent here. Without prejudice to my rights, I will, of course , abide by the details contained in your letter.” Gandhi has one month to vacate the house and his letter meant he was not seeking an extended stay there.

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Kharge lashed out at the government for asking Gandhi even as he made his own suggestion and offer. “He can go and live with his mother or he can come to me, I will vacate one (his official residence) for him,” he said.



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Savarkar row: Congress to tone down attack after Sharad Pawar’s intervention

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New Delhi: Amid strains in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi alliance over Rahul Gandhi’s strident criticism of V D Savarkar, NCP chief Sharad Pawar has stepped in to play the peacemaker by conveying Shiv Sena’s concerns on the issue to the Congress leadership. Opposition leaders said Congress has agreed to tone down its criticism of Savarkar, which has led to an unease in the NCP and the Shiv Sena (UBT), its alliance partners in Maharashtra. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said he had raised the Savarkar issue in his talks with Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi and MVA partners are on the same page on this matter.

“MVA alliance is intact. If anyone thinks the MVA will break apart, they are wrong,” Raut told reporters here.

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Gandhi is learnt to have assured Raut he would avoid any critical reference to Savarkar. Pawar raised the issue during a meeting of opposition leaders convened by Kharge on Monday and made it clear that targeting Savarkar, a revered figure in Maharashtra, would not help MVA, two leaders who attended the meeting told PTI.

Former Congress presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were present at the meeting.

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“Almost all opposition leaders were of the view that there was no need to rake up the Savarkar issue. We have to decide whether we have to fight Modi or Savarkar and not create confusion,” Raut said after a meeting of parliamentarians owing allegiance to the Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena. Pawar also told Rahul Gandhi that Savarkar was never a member of the RSS and underscored that the real fight of the opposition parties was with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP.

Opposition leaders said Rahul told the meeting that the Savarkar issue was an ideological position.

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Leaders of Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, Aam Aadmi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Bharatiya Rashtra Samithi also reached out to the Thackeray faction Shiv Sena.

As the BJP stepped up attack on Rahul Gandhi and sought his apology for “maligning” India on his recent visit to the UK, the former Lok Sabha member from Wayanad said at a press conference on Saturday that he was not Savarkar and would not apologise.

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Former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray slammed Rahul Gandhi for his attack on Savarkar and said his outfit will not tolerate any insult of the freedom fighter.

The Thackeray faction had skipped the meeting convened by Kharge as a mark of protest against Gandhi’s remarks targeting Savarkar.

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