Tushar Vellapally and Ramachandra Bharathi: Kerala connection to the Cash for MLAs saga in Telangana

The only other occasion Tushar has caught the public eye was in August 2019, when he was arrested in Ajman, UAE, in a cheque-bounce case.

At that time, despite his ideological differences with the NDA, of which Tushar was Kerala unit president, his father’s clout ensured that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his CPI(M)-led LDF government intervened through Gulf-based businessman Yusuf Ali to facilitate his immediate release.

Disbelief in Kerala

Given this background, it was with some disbelief that even his detractors watched as Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao — live on TV, on Thursday, 3 November — named Tushar as a key figure in the botched Cash for MLAs operation to allegedly poach four legislators of Rao’s TRS party on behalf of the BJP-RSS.

Few back home had any inkling he possessed such skills.

Rao, in fact, went on to allege that Tushar Vellapally was part of similar poaching — and attempted poaching — operations in Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan.

An image of Tushar’s Aadhar card was among the evidence he presented to the press, along with video footage where he is seen and heard having a conversation with the emissaries of the BJP, including the alleged key figure, Ramachandra Bharathi, alias Satish Sharma.

Bharati, incidentally, is also from Kerala. But more about him later.

Who is Tushar, beyond being Natesan’s son?

Those in the media who follow minor political figures also know Tushar as the head of the Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), a party that is treated with some disdain by the Kerala leadership of the BJP and RSS.

The party was never able to win even the confidence of the Ezhava community to which it is supposedly aligned, thanks to Tushar’s SNDP connection.

Tushar at an SNDP Yogam meeting. (South First)

The 52-year-old businessman and public works contractor has also for long been president of the youth wing of the SNDP, an organisation that is now almost a family enterprise with Natesan occupying the general secretary’s post and his wife Preethi holding the post of women’s wing head.

The SNDP, incidentally, is no ordinary organisation. It has a long history of contributing to the Kerala Renaissance and taking forward the reformist legacy of 19th-century spiritual leader Sree Narayana Guru. This was especially true of the time Narayana Guru’s disciples N Kumaran Asan and Dr Padmanabhan Palpu were at the helm.

The Malayali connection

Going by information available from Hyderabad, the “poachers gang” that attempted to woo the four TRS legislators involved two Malayalis: Tushar and Bharathi alias Satish Sharma, who hails from Kasargod in the northernmost tip of Kerala.

Bharathi is said to have migrated north and, according to the news website Newslaundry, lives a recently-purchased ₹1.2 crore flat in Faridabad. He officiates as a priest at a nearby “South Indian temple”.

Sources confirmed to South First that Bharathi has been a long-time fellow-traveler of the BJP-RSS; ever since, in fact, he is said to have come in contact with BJP’s National General Secretary (Organisation) BL Santosh who was, at the time they made their acquaintance, in charge of party affairs in Kerala.

While observers in Kerala are willing to believe Bharathi’s involvement in the poaching incident, there is scepticism about Tushar’s role. The general impression is that he and his party do not enjoy the confidence of BJP leaders in Kerala.

“Though the BJP expected the saffronisation of SNDP through Tushar and Natesan, that has failed to materialise. In such a scenario, I have difficulty digesting the theory that the BJP trusted such an outsider to preside over such a covert poaching operation,” political analyst and advocate A Jayashankar told South First.

“In Kerala, the BJP and Tushar’s party would have found it impossible to poach anybody from the ruling or opposition formations. That may be why Tushar is being used for operations in other states. But I doubt of his ability to engage in such an operation spread across different states — something that requires a lot of conspiratorial skills,” he added.

“In the case of Sharma, we don’t know anything about him except the latest newspaper reports,” said K Jayanth, general secretary of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee, when contacted.

Tushar dismisses allegations

Tushar has outright dismissed the charges levelled against him and has challenged Telangana Chief Minister Rao to confront him with evidence.

“Let him bring in evidence to prove his allegations. I have never met any of the MLAs in these states or given them any such assurances. The charges are baseless,” Tushar told South First when contacted.

Though Natesan was active, along with Tushar, in the launch of BDJS and bringing it close to the BJP, the father has since kept away from the affairs of the party, leaving it fully in his son’s control.

Tushar at a meeting in the UAE. (South First)

While Natesan continues to make what are seen as regressive comments and supports the BJP ideology in general, he also maintains a close relationship with Chief Minister Vijayan.

Natesan was Vijayan’s right-hand man when the latter initiated a women’s wall across the state in response to right-wing attacks on the LDF government for permitting women to enter Sabarimala, the abode of the bachelor god Ayyappa.

Natesan also holds the vice-chairman’s position in the Kerala Renaissance Preservation Samithy, which is chaired by the chief minister.

Tushar and the BJP

However, the son has always stood with the BJP-RSS.

Critics say the father-son duo needs a good rapport with BJP at the Centre and the CPI(M) in the state as their business interests are spread in different arenas, including liquor, construction works, hotels, and microfinance.

“Ask not, say not, think not caste” was Narayana Guru’s ultimate advice to his followers. But Tushar and Natesan have always attempted to create divisions on caste and communal lines in Kerala.

“It would be difficult not to think of caste or religion in today’s Kerala,” was Tushar’s response when he was asked about their diatribes against Christians and Muslims.

Just a businessman

“Fundamentally, Tushar is a businessman with pan-India operations. By joining in the poaching core group of the BJP-RSS, he might be anticipating fast-paced growth for his businesses and political career,” said TK Vinodan, a CPI leader who has known Tushar for a long time.

“Nobody can be sure whether he will disband his political party tomorrow and join the BJP. For him, politics is the art of survival.” he added.