Bengaluru/Bhubaneswar: Amid fears of cross-voting ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections in Odisha, senior Congress leader and MP Saptagiri Ulaka on Sunday alleged that attempts were made to bribe party MLAs with Rs five crore each during their stay at a hotel in Bengaluru.
Ulaka, who is the Lok Sabha member from Koraput, made the allegation in a video message released by the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) after Bengaluru police arrested two persons for allegedly trying to bribe party legislators. “They were trying to offer Rs 5 crore each to Congress MLAs,” Ulaka claimed.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, rejected the allegation made by congress. The Congress allegation is false. They are making such baseless claims after realising their certain defeat in the Rajya Sabha polls tomorrow. The Congress has a habit of cross-voting, Odisha BJP spokesperson Anil Biswal told reporters.
Ulaka alleged that four persons — Birendra Prasad, Suresh, Ajit Sahu and Simanchal Mahakud — had checked into the same hotel where the Congress legislators were staying.
These four people came from Rourkela in Odisha and stayed in the hotel Saturday night, he claim
ed.
They had attempted to give Rs 5 crore each to MLAs. Blank cheques were recovered from their possession. During interrogation by Karnataka Police, they named BJP-backed Independent candidate Dilip Ray, the Congress MP alleged.
He further claimed that the accused had called the hotel manager several times. The hotel is owned by Ray. The name of one Jaiswal, who is allegedly close to Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, has also cropped up during the investigation, he alleged.
Demanding a thorough probe, Ulaka also alleged that the four persons had threatened the Congress MLAs. If there is any harm to our MLAs, Odisha chief minister will be held responsible, he said.
Two people have been arrested. One of the accused has been named as Suresh. Hunt is on for the third accused, a source told PTI in Bengaluru.
Ulaka said the local police at Bidadi police station took action after the Congress lodged a formal complaint in this regard.
He said that they became suspicious after finding the four people roaming close to Congress MLAs while they were taking breakfast on Sunday morning. They too enquired about the room numbers of the Congress MLAs, Ulaka said.
Notably, eight Congress MLAs, along with some party leaders, were camping at a hotel in Karnataka. The action was taken to shield the party MLAs from horse trading.
Odisha Congress Legislature Party leader Rama Chandra Kadam said that eight of the party’s 14 MLAs had been flown to Bengaluru to protect them from alleged attempts to lure them, while six others, including him, remained in Bhubaneswar.