JOIN USRajasthan crisis: Sachin Pilot gets interim reprieve; police probe topple plans
In fast-paced developments, Rajasthan Police on Friday registered an FIR against unknown persons for trying to topple the state government, prompting the Congress to suspend two MLAs, loyal to former deputy chief minister and rebel leader Sachin Pilot, from the party.
On the other hand, Pilot and his 18 supporting MLAs earned a four-day reprieve from the disqualification proceedings launched by Assembly Speaker C P Joshi as the Rajasthan High Court adjourned the hearing on a plea filed by the former deputy chief minister to Monday. The two-judge bench also asked the Speaker not to take any action on the disqualification proceedings till Tuesday.
The Pilot camp had moved the Court challenging the disqualification proceedings launched by the Speaker on a complaint by the Congress that they had violated whip by skipping the Legislature Party meetings convened by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
Though the Congress refrained from direct attacks on Pilot, at the behest of Rahul Gandhi, that the differences between them were irreconcilable was evident when Gehlot told the media that he had not spoken to his deputy for the past one year.
With sharp attacks on the BJP, the Congress tried to shift the focus of the political drama in Rajasthan from the feud between Gehlot and Pilot to the BJP’s alleged role in the conspiracy.
“Can Gajendra Singh Shekhawat do this alone? The links of this conspiracy reach right at the top in the BJP,” Congress chief spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala told reporters in Jaipur.
The Special Operations Group of the Rajasthan Police also moved in swiftly to investigate the audio recordings with a team of officials landing at the resort in Manesar in Haryana to take voice samples of Bhanwarlal Sharma and Vishvendra Singh – the two MLAs who were suspended by the Congress.
Dramatic scenes were witnessed at the resort where the MLAs were put up as Haryana Police refused to allow the SOG team to enter.
“If BJP claims not to be involved in Congress' internal fight then why BJP led Haryana Government is extending their support and protection to MLAs inside the hotel,” AICC General Secretary Avinash Pande said.
BJP dismissed the audio recordings as “manufactured” and an attempt by the Congress to target it out of frustration as it was not able to keep its house in order.
“They (Congress) have taken their internal fight to a low level. And in that, they have tried to implicate Gajendra Singh Shekhawat,” senior BJP leader Gulab Chand Kataria told reporters in Jaipur.
Shekhawat rejected the allegations levelled by the Congress and declared that he was ready to face any investigation.
“This is not my voice... Let there be an investigation. I am ready to face any probe,” Shekhawat said.