2 held for trying to bribe 8 Odisha MLAs; DK Shivakumar alleges ‘Operation Lotus’

BENGALURU: KPCC president and Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar Sunday alleged four men attempted to bribe eight Congress legislators from Odisha with Rs 5 crore each to secure cross-voting in the upcoming Rajya Sabha election, calling it part of ‘Operation Lotus'.

Hours after the allegations, Bengaluru South superintendent of police R Srinivas Gowda told TOI that they have arrested two persons. The arrested are from BJP — Birendra Prasad from Odisha and Byatarayanapura Suresh from Bengaluru — based on a complaint, a police officer said. The duo's questioning was continuing and they were yet to be produced before a judge.

The complaint was filed by Ashok Kumar Das, deputy leader of Congress Legislative Party in Odisha, on Sunday. He told police that ahead of the March 16 Rajya Sabha elections, Congress shifted eight MLAs from Odisha to a resort near Bengaluru on March 12, amid fears of cross-voting and poaching. He alleged plans of kidnapping the legislators.

The legislators were housed at Wonderla Bengaluru, near Bidadi, and were scheduled to return to Odisha shortly before voting.

As per the complaint: "On Sunday, four persons allegedly met a few of the MLAs and tried to bribe them Rs 5 crore each for cross-voting in favour of BJP. When the MLAs rejected the offer, the four persons allegedly threatened to kill them if they returned to Odisha and also abused them."

The four persons have been identified as Birendra Prasad, Suresh, Ajith Kumar Sahu and Simanchal Mahakud. A senior officer said Suresh and Birendra were caught at the resort, while the others managed to escape. The rooms at the Wonderla resort were booked in the name of Suresh.

Earlier in the day, Shivakumar said the legislators refused the offer and immediately informed the party leadership. He said the four visitors, also believed to be from Odisha, had booked rooms with the help of a local resident and attempted to contact the MLAs at a resort near Bidadi.

"The two men detained by police have admitted to arriving for this purpose and were carrying blank cheques. This is how Operation Lotus is being executed," Shivakumar alleged. During a meeting with aspirants to Bengaluru civic polls, he recalled raids on his residence followed by his arrest in 2017, when he was hosting MLAs ahead of a previous Rajya Sabha election.

The move to shift the Odisha MLAs to Bengaluru came as five candidates are contesting from four seats in Odisha, with the fourth seat turning competitive after BJP backed Independent candidate Dilip Ray, while the BJD and Congress jointly fielded Datteshwar Hota. The relocation was aimed at preventing defections and securing the coalition's numbers during the vote.

In the Odisha assembly, BJP has 79 MLAs, BJD 48, and Congress 14. For the RS polls, a candidate needs at least 30 first-preference votes to win a seat. On current numbers, two BJP candidates and one BJD nominee are expected to win comfortably.

Aside from the eight MLAs, those staying in Karnataka as part of the Congress strategy included an MP and two AICC secretaries, all housed at the same resort.

Shivakumar accused BJP of facilitating the alleged approach to the MLAs — a charge the party has previously denied in similar cases. Asked whether Congress would lodge a formal complaint, Shivakumar said the matter would be pursued legally. "The law will take care of the rest," he said.