TRS MLAs' poaching: Tarun Chugh denies BJP role, demands ECI probe

HYDERABAD: BJP National General Secretary and incharge of party's Telangana affairs Tarun Chugh on Thursday took strong exception to the linking of his party to the alleged attempt at a farmhouse in Moinabad to bribe four TRS MLAs for switching their political loyalties.

He alleged that the TRS was planting fictitious stories to malign the BJP and divert the attention of people from the core issues which, he claimed, were going to determine the result of Munugode by-election. He said that the entire episode had been stage-managed by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and that it was symptomatic of the latter's frustration.

Demanding an inquiry by the Election Commission of India (ECI) over the entire episode, Chugh said that the complicity of the state police in the conspiracy needed to be exposed.

Chugh questioned as to why the MLAs in question were not taken to the police station for recording their statements and what were the conditions that warranted the presence of an ADG-rank police officer at the alleged scene of offence.

"Where is the money seized? Who are these middlemen? Who gave them the mandate from the BJP to negotiate with the TRS MLAs? It is evident from the sequence of events that the whole episode was masterminded by the ruling party to influence the voters in the ensuing Munugodu by-election," Chugh alleged.