'Operation lotus' exposed in Jharkhand, says Congress

After its three MLAs from Jharkhand were caught with huge cash in West Bengal, the Congress has alleged that "operation lotus" stands exposed, which is meant to topple the alliance governments in the state.

The Congress has sought a report from its state unit.

"The game plan of 'Hum Do' in Delhi is to do in Jharkhand what they did in Maharashtra by installing E-D duo," tweeted Jairam Ramesh.

On Saturday, three Congress MLAs from Jharkhand were detained in West Bengal's Howrah district by the police after cash worth more than Rs 48 lakh was seized from a vehicle in which all of them were travelling.

The vehicle belonged to one of the three Congress legislators who was arrested on Saturday evening along with the other two party MLAs.

The three detained Congress MLAs -- Irfan Ansari from Jamtara Assembly constituency, Rajesh Kacchap from Khijri (Scheduled Tribe) Assembly constituency and Naman Bixal Kongari from Kolebira (Scheduled Tribe) Assembly constituency. They have told the police that the cash was meant for purchasing sarees from the renowned wholesale market at Burrabazar in central Kolkata.