 has sent a notice Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to record his voice sample.){kind=link}
The Rajasthan government crisis moved to another level, even as both parties – the Rajasthan government and ‘rebels’ Sachin Pilot and 18 MLAs – slugged it out at the Rajasthan High Court, the Rajasthan Police’s Special Operations Group (SOG) has sent a notice Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to record his voice sample.
The minister himself has told this to a news agency. He said he was approached by the police through his personal secretary.
The issue is of the Congress presenting to the media an audio tape, which purportedly proves that the BJP was in talks with some MLAs of the Rajasthan Congress party, offering money for a horse trade. The allegations are that this was what led to Sachin Pilot revolting with his 18 MLAs.
Meanwhile, the BJP has come down heavily on the tape, saying this would then be a phone tapping incident and this should be investigated by the CBI. Today (July 20) even the Shiv Sena came out against the alleged phone-tapping, saying phone tapping is an assault on personal freedom. In the same breath, though, the Sena said that “bringing down a democratically-elected government using money amounts to ‘treachery’.”
Minister Shekhawat, meanwhile said that it was CM Ashok Gehlot’s way of trying to frame him to avenge son’s defeat. Shekhawat had defeated Gehlot’s son and Congress candidate Vaibhav by about 2.7 lakh votes in the Lok Sabha polls 2019.
– India Legal Bureau