Union Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said on Sunday that he has already given the information which is now being sought from him to the Special Operation Group (SOG) of Rajasthan Police, along with all the documents, twice.
His statement came following Tuesday’s notice from the SOG, which is probing the Rs.900 crore Sanjivani Multistate Credit Cooperative Society scam and has named Shekhawat as the accused.
On October 10, SOG sent a notice to Shekhawat seeking details of his bank accounts and transactions done through the accounts.
In an informal conversation with reporters on Sunday, Shekhawat said on the question related to the notice received from SOG that this is a ridiculous situation. “In the last four and a half years, the chief minister (Ashok Gehlot) has made allegations against me many times in press conferences, public meetings, Congress and government meetings. Now, for the first time after four and a half years, I was given a notice to give the details of my bank accounts,” he said.
The Union minister said that all this is politically motivated. “I have been asked for information about bank accounts, assets and transactions, whereas I have given all this information to SOG without asking through a representation in the years 2020 and 2022.”
{{/usCountry}}The Union minister said that all this is politically motivated. “I have been asked for information about bank accounts, assets and transactions, whereas I have given all this information to SOG without asking through a representation in the years 2020 and 2022.”
{{/usCountry}}CM Gehlot has accused Shekhawat of being involved in the multi-crore Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society scam which the SOG of the Rajasthan Police is investigating.
Shekhawat has rejected the allegations against him as baseless and a political conspiracy to tarnish his image.
On the question of contesting the assembly elections, Shekhawat said that he has neither any desire, nor any aspiration, nor any ambition. “I am a soldier of the party. If the party tells me that they want me to contest elections, then I will contest the elections. I will contest if the party tells me that I have to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. If the party tells me to work in the organisation, I will work in the organisation,” he said.
Shekhawat said that JP Nadda, BJP national president, will address the divisional-level workers’ meeting on Monday regarding the assembly elections and will communicate with the workers. During this, Nadda will take stock of the preparations from the organization’s point of view.
In 2019, the SOG registered a first information report (FIR) against the multi-state credit cooperative society Sanjivani Credit Society for allegedly duping thousands of investors of ₹900 crore and arrested six office bearers of the society.
Six office bearers of the society were arrested in 2019. Shekhawat’s name came up in connection with the scam after chief minister Ashok Gehlot alleged a few months ago that the Union minister and his family members were involved in the scam and claimed that there was evidence of their transactions.
In March this year, Shekhawat had moved a petition for quashing the FIR and transferring the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the grounds that the state has no jurisdiction in the matter.
Earlier, Shekhawat had filed a criminal miscellaneous petition in the high court seeking protection from arrest, claiming that his name had not been mentioned in the case registered in connection with the alleged scheme. He also filed a defamation case against Gehlot in Delhi.