The 2015 cash-for-votes scam was a political scandal in India, the second scandal of its kind since the 2008 cash-for-votes scandal. The 2015 political scandal started off when the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders of Telangana state were caught in a video footage, aired in the media, offering bribes to a nominated MLA, Elvis Stephenson, for his vote in the 2015 elections of the Telangana Legislative Council. The TDP MLA Revanth Reddy was arrested by the Telangana Police when he was offering Rs. 50 lakhs to Stephenson. Reddy was then presented before the court and was sent to jail. Similarly, with N. Chandrababu Naidu, the then Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, with Stephenson was aired in the news media.[1][2]
The Telugu Desam party alleged that the scandal was a political vendetta, doctored by the Telangana State Government under the direction of K. Chandrashekhar Rao, the Chief Minister of Telangana, alongside the YSR Congress Party.[3] In a further development, The High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad for the States of Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, granted bail to Revanth Reddy and two other co-accused due to lack of substantial evidence.[4]