2 months ago
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Accusing the BJP of attempting to poach the Congress legislators from Odisha successful Bengaluru arsenic portion of the party’s ‘Operation Lotus’, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar connected Sunday said that ₹5 crore had been offered to each of the legislators.
Ahead of the voting successful Odisha Assembly elections for 4 seats to Rajya Sabha, successful which nary enactment has the required fig to triumph the 4th seat, Congress moved 8 legislators to a edifice successful Bidadi connected the outskirts of Bengaluru. The legislators person been successful the edifice since Thursday, and Mr. Shivakumar had met them.
Mr. Shivakumar, who successful the past has had acquisition of handling Congress legislators from Maharashtra and Gujarat connected abstracted occasions, is learnt to person been entrusted with the logistics of Odisha legislators. He had earlier expressed apprehension astir the anticipation of BJP attempting to poach Congress legislators.
“Four persons booked rooms successful the aforesaid edifice wherever the Congress legislators are staying. The rooms were booked with the assistance of an idiosyncratic named Byatarayanapura Suresh. They entered the premises and met 1 of the legislators and offered ₹5 crore for each vote,” Mr. Shivakumar told presspersons here.
He alleged that the persons had brought 2 blank cheques, and that these cheques had travel from the BJP. “The Congress legislators person refused to beryllium portion of equine trading. They informed us, pursuing which 2 persons were held portion 2 person escaped. We person seized the blank cheques and handed them implicit to the police. The persons who were held person accepted that they had travel for the aforesaid intent (offering wealth to legislators)”.
“This is an effort to behaviour the large Operation Lotus by our BJP friends,” helium said. The All India Congress Committee leaders person been provided accusation astir the incident, and that they would explicate astir it further, helium added.
Meanwhile, helium met Congress president Mallikarjun M. Kharge connected Sunday aft the incident. The Congress has lodged a constabulary ailment and they volition initiate enactment arsenic per law.
