MLAs poaching case: TRS cadres asked not to speak to media

Hyderabad, Oct 27 (IANS) Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) working president K.T. Rama Rao on Thursday asked party cadres not to make any comments before the media on the alleged attempt by the BJP to lure four MLAs with the offer of huge sums of money.

Stating that the investigation into the case is in the preliminary stage, he advised party leaders not to talk to the media.

"The thieves who caught red-handed keep barking. The party cadres need not pay any attention to this," tweeted KTR, as Rama Rao is popularly known.

This was his first reaction since Cyberabad police on Wednesday night arrested three persons from a farmhouse near Hyderabad when they were trying to lure four MLAs of TRS to defect to the BJP.

The police have registered a case against Ramachandra Bharati a.k.a. Satish Sharma of Delhi, Nanda Kumar of Hyderabad and Simhayaji Swamy of Tirupati.

They have been booked for criminal conspiracy, bribery and criminal intimidation under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Prevention of Corruption Act.

The TRS has alleged that the accused are close to some top BJP leaders including union ministers and that it was a conspiracy by the saffron party to destabilize the TRS government.

Pilot Rohit Reddy, who tipped-off Cyberabad police about the poaching attempt, has claimed that they offered Rs 100 crore to him and Rs 50 crore each to three other MLAs.

Meanwhile, KTR has authorised a panel of 12 TRS leaders to participate on behalf of the party in debates on national television channels. He took the step as the party found that some leaders who are not even members of TRS are participating in the debate.

The arrest of three persons has caused a tremor in the state politics.

While TRS has termed the attempt to buy its MLAs an attack on the self-respect of Telangana, BJP has alleged that it was a drama scripted by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to tarnish the party's image.

Accusing the state police of acting with bias, the BJP has also approached Telangana High Court seeking probe into the case by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Meanwhile, the four MLAs of TRS remained in Pragati Bhavan, the official residence of the chief minister since Wednesday night. Chief minister and TRS president KCR is said to be discussing the party's strategy with ministers KTR and Harish Rao.

There have been speculations throughout the day that KCR will address a press conference along with the four MLAs to place all details of the alleged attempt by BJP to buy the legislators.

He was also expected to announce the future course of action. However, no press conference was convened.