Some of the three suspects on an alleged MLA-poaching mission in Telangana have openly mentioned the names of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and two other national BJP leaders while trying to entice the ruling TRS legislators, chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has said.

“It was not good on the part of the BJP leaders to poach the MLAs and topple the state governments. The arrested accused in the poaching case openly mentioned the PM, Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP leaders J.P. Nadda (national president) and B.L. Santosh (national general secretary) in talks with four TRS MLAs,” a note circulated by the TRS quoted Rao as telling a media conference on Thursday night in Hyderabad.

The statement stands out for multiple reasons:

• The complexion of the abortive poach-and-topple scandal, the details of which have been trickling out over the week, has undergone a dramatic change after Rao, the TRS founder, held the media conference on Thursday night. But the late hour and a news cycle that was dominated by the assassination attempt on Imran Khan in Pakistan and the announcement of the Gujarat polls on the same day meant the event did not attract too much national attention.
• So far, the BJP’s attempt to topple elected governments has been described by the Opposition as “Operation Kamal (Lotus)”. For a change, several specific details of the purported operation in Telangana are spilling out. Rao released at the media conference videotapes, largely in Telugu, that are part of spy cam recordings that purportedly caught the suspects in the act of trying to lure the MLAs with bribes. One clip features a purported claim by a fixer who mentions prominent names in national politics.
• Into the murky cauldron has been tossed a little-known Kerala politician who had contested — and lost his deposit – as the NDA candidate against Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad in the southern state in 2019.

Chief minister Rao alleged that Tushar Vellappally, the national president of the Kerala-based Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), had acted as the go-between in the BJP’s attempt to poach his MLAs.

The BDJS, floated by Tushar’s father Vellappally Natesan in 2015, is part of the NDA in Kerala but has been dormant for some time. Natesan is also general secretary of the SNDP, a socio-cultural organisation of the powerful Ezhava community in Kerala.

At his news conference in Hyderabad, Rao waved a photograph of Tushar in conversation with Shah. Calling Tushar “a fraud”, Rao said the BDJS leader had been in touch personally with the four MLAs targeted by the BJP.

Tushar has denied the allegations. But the question remains how Rao came to know of Tushar who is not very well known even in Kerala. Tushar had hit the headlines after his loss to Rahul when the NDA ally was arrested in the Gulf in a bounced cheque case that showed the Vellapallys have friends in unlikely places.

Kerala chief minister and CPM leader Pinarayi Vijayan had then overlooked his avowed opposition to the BJP and its allies and written to foreign minister S. Jaishankar expressing concern about Tushar’s well-being and health in police custody in the UAE.

*The BJP too has denied the charges. But Rao is setting up an institutional test by declaring that the entire recording had been submitted to Telangana High Court and would also be shared with the Chief Justice of India, all judges of the Supreme Court and high courts, chief ministers and directors-general of police.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea by the three arrested suspects who were directed by Telangana High Court, which set aside a lower court order, to surrender before the police in the poaching case. The accused had moved the top court saying that the complaint against them was politically motivated and liable to be set aside.

Briefing journalists after releasing the “evidence”, Rao alleged that the BJP was now looking to topple the governments in Telangana, AAP-ruled Delhi, YSR Congress-ruled Andhra Pradesh and Congress-governed Rajasthan.

Cyberabad police had arrested the suspects from a farmhouse on October 26 and seized Rs 15 crore. Rao’s party alleges that each MLA was offered Rs 25 crore.

Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar has dismissed the allegations, alleging a “drama” scripted by Rao.

“Do take note of recently viewed videos at Pragathi Bhavan -- Jabardasth Comedy Show.… Nakal karne ke liye bhi akal hona chahiye! Farm House Drama: Actors - TRS MLAs/ Writer, Director, Producer – KCR/ Media Partners - Pink Media,” he tweeted. Pragathi Bhavan is the chief minister’s residence-cum-office.

The plan to catch the alleged BJP representatives red-handed was hatched apparently after one of the four MLAs, Pilot Rohith Reddy, was offered a bait to cross over.

He is said to have informed the party leadership, which alerted the police and the trap was set.

One particular poaching operation the suspects apparently cited during the meeting with the MLAs was how Opposition legislators in Karnataka were disguised as day labourers and taken to the Yelahanka airport in a tractor before being flown to Mumbai.

(Additional reporting by Santosh Kumar)