Who is Thushar Vellappally Named By KCR In Operation Lotus?

Kerala politician Thushar Vellappally is in the eye of the storm with Telangana Chief Minister, K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) naming him as the kingpin behind BJP’s Operation Kamala to woo TRS MLAs for Rs 50 crore each. Son of SNDP leader Vellappally Nadesan, Thushar heads Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) and is State Convenor of NDA Kerala. BDJS has not really made any inroads in Kerala. But Home Minister Amit Shah has found Thushar very resourceful. He came close to Amit Shah because of an incident in UAE where he was arrested for defaulting on a payment of Rs 6 crore. Following his arrest, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan was approached for help. But, since it was a country-to-country issue, the CM directly requested the Home Minister to intervene. Shah moved in quickly and UAE agreed to release Thushar provided that the overdue amount was deposited in a local bank. This condition put everyone in a spot. But Vijayan tapped his good friend, LuLu Group’s MA Yusuff Ali to do the needful which he duly obliged. Thushar was released, and all cases against him in the UAE withdrawn. The so-called Shah and Vijayan link ensures that the Congress-led UDF remains out of power in Kerala and the CPM remains BJP’s default team.