‘Operation Lotus’ in Telangana: High Court permits custody of BJP accused to police
Hyderabad: The High Court has said that the three men, who had been detained in the state for trying to poach legislators from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), could be taken back into custody.
The High Court issued the order on Saturday, overturning the order of a lower court, which had turned down a police plea seeking the custody of the three men and permitted their release on Thursday, reports NDTV.
Citing lack of evidence, the High Court has asked the police to question the accused, who are reportedly linked to the BJP. The police have been told to do so by issuing the accused notices under Section 41, which allows the police to make an arrest without issuing a warrant.
The accused, who were arrested at a farmhouse near Hyderabad on Wednesday night, had reportedly been caught trying to bribe four MLAs of the BRS and get them to join the BJP, which has been termed by the opponents of the BJP as ‘Operation Lotus’.
The police have said that Pilot Rohit Reddy, one of the BRS legislators who were being lured and owner of the farmhouse, tipped them of the BJP offer. An FIR, registered based on the complaint filed by Reddy, alleges that the four MLAs were being offered Rs 250 crore to join the BJP.
Telangana police chief Stephen Raveendra told NDTV that the MLAs called the police and complained of the BJP attempt to lure them. “They said that they were being offered big money, contracts and posts to switch parties,” he added.
The FIR by Rohit Reddy said that they also faced a threat of criminal cases against them, ED and/or CBI raids and that the state government in Telangana would be toppled if the MLAs refused to join the BJP.
The BJP, however, has denied the allegation. It has, instead, accused that it is a BRS drama ‘scripted, directed and produced’ by the Telangana chief minister.
Gujjula Premendar Reddy, state general secretary of the BJP, has also moved the High Court, seeking a transfer of the case to the CBI. He has called it a conspiracy by the BRS to defame the BJP.
Reddy has also accused the Telangana police of acting at the behest of the ruling party.
Kishen Reddy, Union minister and BJP senior leader in Telangana, has said that the BJP had no reason to offer the MLAs such a huge amount of money when the party had a comfortable majority.
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BJP worker’s 16-year-old son allegedly casts eight votes in Uttar Pradesh’s Farrukhabad; Video viral
Lucknow (Farrukhabad): A viral video has surfaced showing a 16-year-old son of a BJP worker allegedly casting eight votes to the saffron party during the ongoing general elections in Uttar Pradesh. The video has sparked controversy, and the opposition has urged for prompt action from the Election Commission of India, reports scroll.in.
The video shared by the Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav on micro-blogging site ‘X’, showed the youngster recording himself while casting multiple times in a series of instances. The incident reportedly took place in Khiri Pamaran village, which falls under the Aliganj Assembly constituency within the Farrukhabad parliamentary seat. Mukesh Rajput, the sitting MP, is the BJP candidate in this constituency. Polling in Farrukhabad occurred on May 13 during the fourth phase of the general election.
In the viral video, the youngster is seen casting eight votes in total, all for the BJP, one by one with different clippings.
The youngster in the video has been identified as Rajan Singh Thakur, confirmed his father, Anil Singh Thakur to the Scroll.in. Anil Singh Thakur is the gram pradhan (village head) of Khiri Pamaran and a member of the BJP.
Anil defending his son told the Scroll that the ‘Video misrepresented his son,’ and claimed that the voting was done when the machine was being tested in some instances and other clipping of him voting on behalf of mentally and physically disabled voters was merged and made into a video.
Despite the Anil's caims, the video has drawn significant criticism. Subhash Chandra Prajapati, the additional district magistrate of Farrukhabad, confirmed to the Scroll that the administration will file a case soon. He mentioned that the returning officer is investigating the matter following a directive from the chief electoral officer in Lucknow.
The opposition has been vocal in its criticism, with Akhilesh Yadav demanding action from the Election Commission. In his social media post, Yadav accused the BJP of undermining the electoral process and described the party's booth committee as a "loot committee." The Congress party also called on the Election Commission to take action, in a ‘X’ post the party wrote, “Dear Election Commission…are you watching..a boy is voting 8-8 times ... .at least wake up now.”
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, took to ‘X’ to express, “Fearing and seeing their defeat, the BJP is attempting to undermine democracy by pressuring government machinery to deny the mandate. The Congress expects all officers performing election duties to remember their constitutional responsibilities despite any pressure from those in power. Otherwise, once the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc government is formed, actions will be taken to ensure that anyone will think ten times before violating their 'Oath to the Constitution'."
Following the video's circulation, Naval Kishor Shakya, the Samajwadi Party candidate in Farrukhabad, filed a complaint with the district election officer. Shakya's complaint alleges that Rajan Singh Thakur cast votes after snatching voter information slips from other voters and that he was assisted by Dinesh Thakur, the local police station's station house officer. Shakya has called for re-polling at the affected polling center.
In a related incident earlier in May, Gujarat Police arrested two BJP workers for allegedly casting bogus votes and live-streaming the act on social media in the Dahod constituency. The Election Commission conducted re-polling at the affected booth following the incident.
The opposition INDIA bloc, including the Congress and the Samajwadi Party, has repeatedly accused the Election Commission of failing to take prompt action against election model code of conduct violations.
अपनी हार सामने देख कर भाजपा जनादेश को झुठलाने के लिए सरकारी तंत्र पर दबाव बना कर लोकतंत्र को लूटना चाहती है।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 19, 2024
कांग्रेस चुनावी ड्यूटी कर रहे सभी अधिकारियों से यह अपेक्षा करती है कि वो सत्ता के दबाव के सामने अपनी संवैधानिक ज़िम्मेदारी न भूलें।
वरना INDIA की सरकार बनते ही ऐसी… https://t.co/fk4wXL8QZy
