‘Operation Lotus’ to topple Jharkhand government, Congress alleges cash was recovered from MLAs

The Congress has accused the BJP of toppling the government in Jharkhand through ‘Operation Lotus’. Congressmen say that this has become clear after the recovery of a large amount of cash from three party MLAs in Howrah, West Bengal. The Congress has been accusing the BJP of trying to topple its coalition government led by Hemant Soren in the past as well.

Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh tweeted, “BJP’s ‘Operation Lotus’ in Jharkhand exposed in Howrah. The game plan of ‘Hum Do’ in Delhi is now for Jharkhand, which they did by bringing in the E-D pair in Maharashtra.’ It is known that Jairam was referring to the Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis-led government of Maharashtra through E-D.

Had to get a machine to count cash
Three Congress MLAs from Jharkhand were stopped by the police in Howrah district of West Bengal on Saturday night. A huge amount of cash was recovered from his vehicle. A senior police officer said that on the basis of intelligence inputs, the vehicle in which MLAs Irfan Ansari, Rajesh Katchap and Naman Bixal Congri were traveling was stopped on National Highway-16 at Ranihati under Panchla police station area.

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Howrah (Rural) Superintendent of Police Swati Bhangalia said, “We had received accurate information that a huge amount of money was being carried in a black colored car. We started searching the vehicles and stopped this car, which was carrying three MLAs. A large amount of cash has been recovered from the car. A machine is being ordered for counting cash. The MLAs are also being questioned about the source of the money and where it was being taken.

‘BJP conspiracy to topple Hemant Soren government’
The Jharkhand unit of the Congress also claimed that the huge amount of cash was part of the BJP’s conspiracy to topple the Hemant Soren government. The Congress is part of the Soren government in the state along with Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). Jharkhand Congress working president Bandhu Tirkey said, “It seems to be a conspiracy by the BJP. The BJP has been trying to destabilize the Hemant Soren government ever since it came to power.

He said that if we see what happened in Maharashtra and some other states, it will become clear that BJP uses money to oust governments. I request the party high command to take strict action against these three MLAs, so that a strong message can be sent to the other members of the party.

TMC also attacked BJP
Supporting the Congress statement, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal claimed that the cash was recovered amid rumors of horse-trading of MLAs and a possible ouster of the JMM-led Jharkhand government. TMC tweeted, “Amidst rumors of horse-trading of MLAs and possible ouster of Jharkhand government, three Jharkhand Congress MLAs have been caught carrying huge cash in Bengal. What is the source of this money? Will any central agency take suo motu cognizance of this? Or do the rules apply only to a select few?’

BJP linked it to the corruption of Congress government
At the same time, Jharkhand unit president of the opposition BJP Deepak Prakash said that the Congress MLAs should tell from where they got such a huge amount of cash. Jharkhand BJP General Secretary said that ever since Congress came to power in Jharkhand, corruption is increasing continuously. He said that earlier also cash was recovered from the houses of officers in Jharkhand. Sahu said that these people misuse the hard earned money of the public.