'Baseless allegations': BJP slams Congress' 'Operation Lotus in Jharkhand' charge

New Delhi: The BJP on Sunday lashed out at the Congress for accusing it of trying to topple the government in Jharkhand after three MLAs of the grand old party were caught allegedly with a huge amount of cash in West Bengal's Howrah on Saturday.

Union Minister Arjun Munda said that the Congress has a habit of levelling baseless allegations against others to sweep their own mistakes under the carpet.

"Congress party has a habit of levelling baseless allegations against others to sweep their own mistakes under the carpet. They (Congress MLAs) must explain where all the cash recovered from the car came from," he said.

Congress party has a habit of levelling baseless allegations against others to sweep their own mistakes under the carpet. They (Congress MLAs) must explain where all the cash recovered from the car came from: Union Minister Arjun Munda on Jharkhand Congress leaders held with cash pic.twitter.com/EGYPAkvwsr

— ANI (@ANI) July 31, 2022

The Congress accused the BJP of trying to topple its coalition government in Jharkhand, saying the saffron party's game plan is to do in Jharkhand what they did in Maharashtra.

Acting on a tip-off, police on Saturday intercepted an SUV in which Congress MLAs Irfan Ansari, Rajesh Kachchap and Naman Bixal Kongari were travelling on national highway-16 at Ranihati in Howrah and allegedly found a huge amount of cash in the vehicle.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter on Saturday that "The BJP's 'Operation Lotus' in Jharkhand stands exposed tonight in Howrah. The game plan of 'Hum Do' in Delhi is to do in Jharkhand what they did in Maharashtra by installing E-D duo."

The BJP's ‘Operation Lotus’ in Jharkhand stands exposed tonight in Howrah. The game plan of ‘Hum Do’ in Delhi is to do in Jharkhand what they did in Maharashtra by installing E-D duo.

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) July 30, 2022

After rebel Sena leader Eknath Shinde was sworn in as the Maharashtra chief minister recently, the Congress had hit out at the BJP for capturing power "unethically"

The Jharkhand Congress also claimed that the huge amount of cash was part of a conspiracy by the BJP to topple the Hemant Soren government, of which it is a part along with Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal.

Besides the MLAs, there were two other people in the SUV, which carried a board mentioning "MLA Jamtara Jharkhand" along with the Congress' election symbol, police said.

Ansari is the MLA of Jamtara, while Kachchap is the legislator of Khijri in Ranchi district and Kongari is the MLA of Kolebira in Simdega district.

With inputs from agencies

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