MLA comes to Assembly with Rs 5 lakh in cash, creates flutter

In a dramatic twist of events in the Assembly premises on Thursday, Congress legislator from Amravati, Yashomati Thakur, brought a bag full of notes --- Rs 5 lakh in all --- to the Assembly, alleging that the money was given to her by RTI activist Sandeep Yeole, to get the authorities to act against Omkar developers, who he said was involved in the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) scam.

The incident led to sharp exchanged between Congress and BJP MLAs on the floor of the House.

According to Thakur, Yeole handed over the money to her at the MLAs’ hostel. The RTI activist wanted Thakur to help him expose the builder involved in the SRA scam. Subsequently, the MLA lodged a complaint with the Cuffe Parade police station.

Speaking to reporters outside the Assembly, Thakur said, “Yeole informed me that injustice has been done to him and other residents of a slum that was being re-developed. The RTI activist claimed that he had met the police commissioner, income-tax officers and ED officials, but nobody was taking cognizance of his complaint.”

The Congress MLA said what happened on Thursday was indeed a novel way to draw attention to Yeole’s complaints. Thakur has demanded that the government probe the matter forthwith.

Yeole said he has been fighting for justice for over a month now, alleging that the builder has even bribed him to seep quiet.