Hyderabad: Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay on Friday took oath at the Yadadri temple in the state and said his party was not involved in the alleged poaching of four Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MLAs.
He called Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao to do the same and prove that he had not scripted the MLA’s poaching controversy. The BJP President also challenged CM Rao and four TRS MLAs to conduct a lie detector test.
Cyberabad police on Wednesday arrested three persons, including a priest from Faridabad, a monk from Tirupati and a businessman from Hyderabad, for allegedly trying to woo four TRS MLAs to join the BJP.
“The Chief Minister is not able to protect his own MLAs. He knows that Munugode assembly by-election is going to prove to be a setback for the party (TRS) and hence all this conspiracy has been hatched. I came here and took oath. I am asking Chief Minister KCR, who claims to be a devout Hindu, can he do this? Sanjay said in the temple.
He said, “When they came to know that I was going to Yadadri, it was informed to the police. TRS goons tried to create obstacles on the way. And yet, here I am. The Chief Minister renovated this entire Yadadri temple with a big budget and said that it is very prestigious for our state. So why don’t you come to this divine place and take an oath.”
The arrests were made late Wednesday night from the farmhouse of Pilot Rohit Reddy, a TRS MLA. Reddy informed the police to reach the spot. The accused were released on Thursday after an ACB (Anti-Corruption Bureau) court judge rejected the remand request citing lack of evidence.
political slugfest
Soon after the arrest, both sides accused each other of creating a dispute, and called the arrest “staged”. Sanjay had earlier called it a “completely fake drama” and attempted to malign the image of Hinduism by dragging saints and priests into the issue.
Meanwhile, reacting to Sanjay’s temple visit, several TRS leaders also wondered whether Union Home Minister Amit Shah would come and take oath at the temple to prove the innocence of the BJP.
“Only BJP can drag religion and God into such issues. If BJP has so much confidence in his innocence, why not call Shah and ask him to take oath? They are calling CM KCR to take oath in the temple. Why didn’t Shah come earlier?” Telangana minister Erabeli Dayakar Rao said.
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