Latest news with #OperationLotus'
Indian Express
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Karnataka BJP expels party MLAs Shivaram Hebbar and S T Somashekar for 6 years over ‘indiscipline'
The BJP's Central Disciplinary Committee Tuesday expelled two party legislators, A Shivaram Hebbar and S T Somashekar, for six years for 'repeated violations of the party discipline'. The action against the BJP MLAs was based on their response to a showcase notice issued by the party Committee on March 25 this year. Before this, the Bharatiya Janata Party expelled firebrand party MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal from its ranks for six years in March this year. Though both were ministers under the erstwhile BJP rule, Hebbar and Somashekar were on the fringes of the party after the Congress came to power. They were previously in the Congress, and had joined the BJP during the 2019 'Operation Lotus' which saw the defection of 17 Congress and JD(S) MLAs. The two MLAs, especially Somashekar, caused an embarrassment for the state BJP unit by defying party diktats. In the Karnataka Assembly, the Yeshwantpur MLA backed several Bills tabled by the Congress government, which the BJP had opposed. He had also refused to walk out with the BJP legislators during their protests inside the House. The trouble for the two started in February 2024 when Somashekar cross-voted for Congress candidates during the Rajya Sabha polls, and Hebbar abstained. Their rebellion was an agenda for the state core committee during its meeting held in December 2024, as they had 'identified themselves with the Congress'. Somashekar and Hebbar, who are three-time MLAs, had also backed Congress candidates during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Though this had not ensured victory for Congress candidates in constituencies, which they were part of, it had attracted the wrath of the BJP leadership. Somashekar was once considered close to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. He was associated with Deputy CM D K Shivakumar, a Vokkaliga leader like himself, since Congress came to power in 2023. Somashekar had served as the chairman of the Bangalore Development Authority during the year-long Kumaraswamy regime between 2018 and 2019. Post his switch to the BJP, he held the cooperation portfolio in the B S Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai cabinets. Hebbar hails from Yellapur in the Uttara Kannada district of the state. He, along with Somashekar, is said to have felt sidelined after the BJP lost the recent Assembly elections, and Yediyurappa's influence on the state unit of the party waned. With the two expulsions, the strength of the BJP in the Karnataka Assembly declined to 62. While three MLAs were suspended this year, former CM Basavaraj Bommai had quit as MLA after he won the Lok Sabha polls in 2024.
Hindustan Times
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Punjab: Jalandhar Central AAP MLA Raman Arora arrested in corruption case
The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) on Friday arrested Jalandhar Central Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Raman Arora, 54, in a corruption case involving former assistant town planner (ATP) of the municipal corporation, Sukhdev Vashisht, who was held last week. Arora allegedly used Vashisht to issue bogus notices and extort money from targeted individuals. The VB raided Arora's house on Friday morning following complaints against him. Though VB officials were tightlipped, the AAP posted the development on X: '(Bhagwant) Mann sarkar's big action against corruption. No one is above the law — not even within the AAP. Vigilance raids MLA Raman Arora over fake Nagar Nigam notices, extortion and digital scams. This is what real accountability looks like.' The Punjab government had withdrawn Arora's security cover of 14 police personnel on May 12 after which action was evident against the MLA. Arora is the third AAP MLA facing VB action for corruption in three years. His arrest comes exactly three years after the VB arrested former health minister and Mansa MLA Dr Vijay Singla for corruption on May 24, 2022. Bathinda Rural AAP MLA Amit Rattan Kotfatta was caught in a corruption case on February 23, 2023. A VB official said Arora's name cropped up during the interrogation of Vashisht, who arrested for demanding ₹30,000 on May 14. 'Vashisht enjoyed Arora's patronage. He was posted in Jalandhar Central zone for one-and-a-half years and was deployed in Jalandhar West zone before that for four years,' a VB official said. The VB said Vashisht was arrested following complaints from colonisers and commercial unit owners. 'The complainants alleged he had been delaying file approvals and extorting money from applicants,' he said. 'Despite 70% of building maps in the area having been approved by the MC, Vashisht refused to clear files unless bribes were paid. He demanded ₹30,000 a file to process the case,' the VB said. The complainants accused Vashisht of issuing threats, including sealing buildings, if the bribe was not paid. 'During interrogation, Vashisht admitted he issued 350 notices to stakeholders from April 2022 to March 2025. The notices are under investigation due to the huge proceeds of crime,' an official said. The VB confiscated files pertaining to permissions given for change of land use, notices issued to commercial and residential units to pay their dues and authorisation granted to residential colonies and development of commercial hubs in Jalandhar Central and West assembly constituencies in the past two years. Raman Arora and Sheetal Angural, who was the Jalandhar West AAP MLA before joining the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections last year, were the first to accuse the saffron party of poaching AAP leaders in the run-up to the 2022 assembly elections after which the AAP named it 'Operation Lotus' and registered a case. However, Arora attended an event organised by the RSS and the BJP to mark the martyrdom of Shaheed Bhagat Singh in Jalandhar on March 23. Bholath Congress MLA Sukhpal Khaira termed Arora's arrest an eyewash 'just like Dr Vijay Singla, who was also arrested three years ago but continues to be the Mansa MLA with full blessings of CM Bhagwant Mann'. 'If a genuine inquiry is conducted against the AAP MLAs, barring (Amritsar North MLA) Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, all will meet the same fate,' he said.
The Print
18-05-2025
- Politics
- The Print
ED arrested me as I stopped BJP from coming to power in 2019, was protective wall of MVA govt: Raut
The book is about Raut's experiences in prison after ED arrested him in an alleged money laundering case in 2022, soon after the collapse of the Thackeray government. Raut later got bail. In his book, 'Narkartala Swarg' (Heaven in Hell), Raut also claimed action was taken against him as he was the 'protective wall' of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government which came to power that year. Mumbai, May 18 (PTI) Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut has claimed the primary reason behind the Enforcement Directorate arresting him in an alleged money laundering case was because he stopped the BJP from coming to power in Maharashtra in 2019. 'The primary reason behind (the ED) action against me was I stopped the BJP from coming to power. I also stood as a protective wall in defence of the Thackeray government. After that the Thackeray government collapsed. 'The (Eknath) Shinde government was formed through unconstitutional means. Both Shinde and (then Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis) must have agreed on one thing that if the government has to function, Raut must be behind bars,' he claimed. Raut said the BJP was hurt that it had to sit in the opposition despite bagging 105 seats (in the 288-member assembly in the 2019 polls). 'With Sena joining hands with Sharad Pawar-led NCP, the BJP had to sit in the opposition. The BJP considered Raut the reason why it could not form the government in Maharashtra in BJP always had this regret,' he claimed. The BJP and the Shiv Sena had contested the 2019 assembly polls together. But the Sena parted ways with the BJP over the post of chief minister. Later it became a part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi comprising the Congress and the (undivided) NCP. The MVA government was led by Thackeray. The Rajya Sabha MP, known to be a fierce critic of the BJP, said the former ally could not see Uddhav Thackeray as the CM in 2019 so its leaders plotted to topple his government. With the government having a majority of 170 MLAs, it was not possible that their 'Operation Lotus' would succeed, he said. 'Which is why central agencies entered the battlefield. Anil Deshmukh, Nawab Malik and Sanjay Raut were fixed as targets,' he said. The federal agency had decided upon a political agenda and had made a list of MVA leaders to be arrested in Maharashtra. The list included Deshmukh, Malik and Raut, the book claimed. Deshmukh and Malik, both from the NCP, were ministers in the Thackeray government. The ED had tightened its noose around 11 of the 40 MLAs (including Shinde) of the undivided Shiv Sena who revolted against Thackeray. The ED was also going to arrest some of the MPs of the undivided Shiv Sena, Raut claimed. PTI PR BNM This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
