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Two arrested in Rajasthan for ‘attempts’ to topple government, political slugfest continues
Rajasthan politics is on the boil over the issue of alleged attempts to overthrow the Gehlot government.
Rajasthan police’s special operations group (SOG) has announced the arrest of two individuals, Bharat Malani and Ashok Singh, and said that they were involved in efforts to topple the state government. The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) also filed a preliminary enquiry against three Independent MLAs for alleged attempts to bribe Congress MLAs ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls last month in a bid to destabilise the state government.
According to the SOG FIR, the arrested accused were allegedly talking about the rift between the chief minister and the deputy chief minister and also about toppling the Congress government by poaching MLAs. The SOG claimed to have gained the information from phone intercepts. Further questioning of the accused is taking place.
Earlier today, the ruling Congress party and the principal opposition party, the BJP, traded serious allegations and counter-allegations over the issue.
It all started with chief minister Ashok Gehlot accusing the BJP’s state and central leaders of conspiring to topple his government using money power, reported PTI.
“BJP leaders are playing the game at the behest of central leaders. MLAs were offered money... Rs 10 crore in advance and Rs 15 crore after the government is toppled,” the chief minister alleged and added that the BJP wants to convert the state’s politics into a goat market, reported PTI.
Gehlot also named leader of opposition Gulab Chand Kataria, his deputy Rajendra Rathore and BJP state president Satish Poonia for allegedly executing the agenda of their party’s central leadership by indulging in horse-trading.
Congress MLAs in Rajasthan claim BJP involved in horse-trading
On Friday night, over 20 Congress MLAs had also issued a joint statement alleging that BJP was trying to topple the Congress government in the state by “luring” legislators, reported the agency.
The BJP responded by daring Gehlot to prove his allegation or quit politics, and claimed that the CM was targeting the opposition party since he had failed to stop the infighting in the state unit of the Congress party.
Union Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat alleged that Gehlot’s allegations of horse-trading were nothing but a “cooked up story” aimed to defame Congress’ state president and deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot to gain an upper hand in state politics.
“The chief minister himself was the script writer, producer, director, actor and villain of this film,” said Shekhawat. He also challenged Gehlot to release the list of the MLAs, who he considered to be “saleable”.
Also Read: Case filed for alleged bid to topple Rajasthan govt
Leader of opposition Gulab Chand Kataria asked Gehlot to handle his party’s internal crisis instead of levelling “false” accusations against the BJP.
“I challenge the chief minister to prove his allegations against the BJP. If the allegations are proved then I will quit politics and if the charges are not proven, then chief minister Gehlot should quit politics,” Kataria was quoted as saying by the agency.
The matter further intensified when Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) convener Hanuman Beniwal alleged that the state government was involved in tapping the phones of MPs and MLAs through the SOG. Beniwal, whose party is an NDA constituent, also alleged that attempts were made by Gehlot to poach three RLP MLAs during the Rajya Sabha elections last month.
