Telangana CM KCR alleges 'Delhi brokers' behind Rs 100 crore attempt to bribe his party MLAs

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Sunday claimed that "Delhi brokers" were involved in the alleged attempts to bribe four MLAs of his Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party, presumably referring to the BJP-led Centre. Earlier on Wednesday, an incident occured at a farmhouse in the state where Telangana police claimed to have busted the bribery attempt.

BRS MLA Pilot Rohith Reddy had on Wednesday filed a complaint with the police, alleging that Ramachandra Bharati and Nanda Kumar, both belonging to the BJP, had met him and offered him a bribe of Rs 100 crore to join the Hindutva party.

The BJP, for its part, has denied the allegations of horse-trading, saying that the entire exercise was "scripted, directed and produced" by the Chief Minister. The saffron party has also approached the Election Commission in this regard.

"Some Delhi brokers came to challenge Telangana's self-respect… They offered Rs 100 crores to four MLAs," Rao said at a public function today, parading on dais the four who had called in the police at the farmhouse, alleging a so-called "Operation Lotus" by the BJP to topple state governments.

Three persons -- one of them a businessman -- were arrested by the police in connection with the incident. Ramachandra Bharati alias Satish Sharma, Nanda Kumar, and Simhayaji Swamyat have been sent to jail custody for 14 days.