Bengaluru, 15 Mar

Two people were arrested for allegedly attempting to bribe Odisha Congress MLAs, who are staying in a resort near here, as part of BJP's "Operation Lotus," Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar claimed on Sunday.

He alleged that the BJP has planned "Operation Lotus" and was offering Rs five crore to all Odisha MLAs, who were flown here ahead of the 16 March Rajya Sabha polls in that State.

Eight MLAs, along with some other Odisha Congress unit office bearers are camping in the resort.

They have been flown to Bengaluru with apprehensions of horse trading during the Rajya Sabha elections in favour of ruling BJP's Rajya Sabha candidate.

Shivakumar, also Congress' Karnataka chief, said two persons were apprehended at the private resort for attempting to buy over Odisha Congress MLAs.

"Four people have come. One local person named Suresh helped them; they contacted him (an MLA) online. In the morning they picked up our MLA. Our MLA told us that they offered Rs five crore for each vote. He (Congress MLA) said he is not for horse-trading," Shivakumar told reporters.

"The cheque and everything should be seized. A complaint will be filed at the police station. After that, whatever legal action is required will be taken," he added.

Shivakumar said those caught have accepted that they came for the "same purpose".

"They have admitted it and the process is on to trace others. This is the great Operation Lotus carried out by BJP friends in Karnataka," the DCM said.

Operation Lotus is a term used by Congress to claim about attempts to topple a non-BJP government by the BJP whose party symbol is lotus. It also involves getting the votes on MLAs from other parties for their Rajya Sabha candidate.

According to a Congress source, one of the persons involvedin the horse trading is a defeated Lok Sabha candidate.

A source shared the photograph and blank cheques as well. "They tried to negotiate with the Congress MLA by offering a blank cheque. Both have been caught and handed over to the Bidadi police," the source said.

Police sources said that they have been arrested.

According to Congress sources, the Rajya Sabha elections in Odisha will take place on Monday. The BJP has fielded one more candidate, which raised apprehensions of horse-trading.

Congress and the Biju Janata Dal have fielded a candidate.