Rajasthan going MP way? Gehlot says BJP luring Congress MLAs with cash

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s allegation on Saturday that the BJP was trying to topple his government sent the political temperature in the state several notches up as the Congress apprehended a repeat of Madhya Pradesh, where it lost the government just a few months ago.

At a press conference in Jaipur, Gehlot said the BJP was trying to topple his government by offering his legislators Rs 10 crore in advance and Rs 15 crore after the government was toppled and cited the examples of Goa, Manipur, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, where the BJP carried out Operation Lotus.

The high-voltage drama took an interesting turn on Saturday when the Rajasthan police issued notices to Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot to record their statements on the issue.

The police’s special operations group (SOG) also sent a notice to government Chief Whip Mahesh Joshi to record his statement. Joshi, during the Rajya Sabha polls, had made a written complaint about attempts of horse-trading by the BJP.

Interestingly, Pilot had then said that he had no such information. Pilot’s supporters feel that Gehlot has been trying to project the crisis scenario to get the sympathy of Congress central leadership and paint Pilot as someone liable to effect a split like Jyotiraditya Scindia did in Madhya Pradesh.

Congress MLAs in Rajasthan are divided in two groups — supporters of Gehlot and Deputy Chief Minister and state chief Sachin Pilot, who was earlier a strong contender for the CM’s post. In 2018, a decision on Rajasthan chief ministership got delayed as Pilot’s supporters demanded the post for him. Since then, the rivalry between the two has intensified.

When Gehlot was asked whether the alleged efforts to weaken his party were happening because of two groups in the Congress, the chief minister gave a cryptic reply saying, “There may be five-seven leaders here who could be claimants for chief minister’s post and they may also have capabilities, but when a chief minister is appointed, such talks end and peace prevails.”

The political drama in Rajasthan began late Friday night when 24 Congress MLAs issued a joint letter alleging that the BJP was luring legislators to topple the Gehlot government and alleged a conspiracy with the involvement of top BJP leaders at Centre.

Unlike Chhattisgarh, where Congress won with two-third majority, the victory margin in Rajasthan and MP were narrow.

Dismissing Congress allegations as its “internal problems”, BJP legislators had on Friday given a notice of breach of privilege to the Rajasthan Assembly secretary against the chief minister for his statement over alleged horse-trading ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections.

Regarding Gehlot’s allegation that BJP was trying to topple his government by offering his legislators large sums of money, BJP state chief Satish Poonia said the political situation in the state was the result of infighting in the Congress and the chief minister was just trying to shift the blame.