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Rajasthan police yet to get evidence on Congress’ complaints of poaching
On June 11, Rajasthan government chief whip Mahesh Joshi had filed a complaint with the special operations group (SOG) and the anti corruption bureau (ACB) alleging attempts to lure Congress and Independent MLAs in order to destabilise the government.
Ten days after Rajasthan government chief whip Mahesh Joshi filed a complaint with the special operations group (SOG) and the anti corruption bureau (ACB) alleging attempts to lure Congress and Independent MLAs in order to destabilise the government, the state police is yet to get any concrete evidence about the horse trading charges.
The opposition BJP, meanwhile, asked the government to present the facts of the allegation or face action.
Joshi had filed his complaint on June 11.
“We will talk more on this after June 19. I believe by June 19 the probe will be done and truth will be out,” he later had said. The Rajya Sabha elections were held on June 19.
But the probe has not progressed much because Joshi is yet to record his statements with the police.
Joshi said he has been unwell for two-three days and is under self-quarantine for a few days. “I will get an update on the preliminary probe by investigating agencies in a day or two,” he added.
“The investigation is at a very preliminary stage and we are working on different angles. The police are examining the call records of suspects which includes chartered accountant, few MLAs of Congress and BJP, hawala brokers and property dealers,” a police official familiar with the development said.
The police official added that they were also obtaining the records of big transactions related to the suspected accused. “The investigation will take some time to reach any solid conclusion as we are yet to link multiple facts and establish a connection,” he added.
Leader of Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria said Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Joshi made serious allegations against the BJP and lodged a case with the SOG. “I invite them, if there is any truth in the allegations then they should present the facts, otherwise we will take action,” he said.
Kataria said the CM should prove his party’s allegations. “They went ahead and filed a case in the SOG. Now their statements should be recorded about who bought whom and where,” he said.
Police said some big property dealers, Chartered Accountants and hawala brokers tried to contact at least 10 MLAs and offered them money up to Rs 30 crore to not only cast their vote in other party’s favour but to also topple the state government by changing their groups.
“The biggest challenge in tracing these middlemen is internet calling which is comparatively difficult to trace,” said another official who requested anonymity.
The Congress won two seats in the June 19 Rajya Sabha elections, and one seat went to BJP.
Political analyst Narayan Bareth said the current atmosphere is the result of the wealthy and influential entering the Upper House of Parliament. He cited a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) that suggests that 90% of people going to Rajya Sabha are millionaires.
“The Upper House is for intellectuals to raise state’s issues but when the wealthy enter then such allegations are not new,” he said.
“Unfortunately, such allegation in Rajasthan happens when both parties gave chance to workers – all four in the fray were party workers,” he said.
