The Congress has alleged that the arrest of three of its Jharkhand MLAs in Bengal has exposed a conspiracy to destabilise another non-BJP state government through bribery and blackmail.
The party, which has suspended the MLAs who were caught by Bengal police with bags of cash on Saturday, has alleged that efforts to pull down its coalition government with the JMM in Jharkhand had been on for several months.
“Many other MLAs have been approached. One FIR was lodged against BJP leaders a few months ago. The chief minister of one BJP-ruled state and a few central ministers have been threatening our MLAs,” the Congress minder for Jharkhand, Avinash Pandey, said at a news conference.
“(An operation similar to) this happened most recently in Maharashtra. We have seen what happened in Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. They almost succeeded in Rajasthan,” Pandey went on.
“Now MLAs in Jharkhand are being given both allurements and threats. They are being blackmailed by people sitting at the top. Agencies like the Enforcement Directorate are at work. Even in Chhattisgarh, the ED is trying its best.”
Pandey accused the Narendra Modi government of continually surpassing its own record in mutilating the people’s mandate and trampling on constitutional values to grab power.“We condemn the MLAs who sell themselves. But the greater responsibility lies on the bigger forces which use the power of money and blackmail to destabilise Opposition-ruled governments,” he said.“If the people’s faith in democracy gets eroded because of such manipulation of their mandate, India will be in deep peril.
”Pandey hinted at the involvement of Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sharma in the alleged operation.“We know which other MLAs and party functionaries are in touch with the BJP. We also know that false allegations are being levelled against some MLAs and leaders,” he said.“We know the leaders who met a BJP chief minister in Delhi and who interacted through videoconference. Right now we are suspending these three MLAs. Action will be taken against others at an appropriate time.”
Party spokesperson Pawan Khera, who was present at the news conference, said: “The Modi government has to be squarely blamed for the continuous erosion in the democratic culture. Wherever the BJP doesn’t win, agencies are unleashed to disturb Opposition governments.“The agencies are working (as though they are) the BJP’s frontal outfits. Money plays a big role in such operations. We all should collectively rise against this threat to democracy.”Party communications chief Jairam Ramesh had posted a tweet on Saturday night after news of the MLAs’ detention in Bengal came.
“The BJP’s ‘Operation Lotus’ in Jharkhand stands exposed tonight in Howrah,” he wrote.“The game plan of ‘Hum Do’ (Modi and Amit Shah) in Delhi is to do in Jharkhand what they did in Maharashtra by installing E-D (Eknath-Devendra) duo.”