A day after Enforcement Directorate raided his brother's residence, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday said Congress is "not scared of raids by central agencies" and claimed that his party has a majority in the Assembly.
The Enforcement Directorate conducted searches at the residence of Rajasthan Chief Minister’s brother Agrasen Gehlot in connection with an alleged scam in exporting fertiliser. The ED also conducted searches at several locations in Rajasthan, West Bengal, Gujarat and Delhi.
Targeting Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Rajasthan Chief Minister said the audio clips which indicate an alleged plot to topple his government can be sent abroad for forensic tests.
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Without taking the minister’s name, Gehlot questioned why he is not coming forward to give a voice sample.
Rejecting the charge that the audio clips are fabricated, he said they can be sent to any forensic science laboratory for examination.
“We can send it for FSL testing to America if they have no trust in the Rajasthan government, he said, adding that the Congress also did not trust the Centre.
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“Why is he not giving a voice test? He should come forward for it,” the chief minister said, in an apparent reference to Gehlot whom the party has accused of trying to lure Congress MLAs.
Shekhawat has denied the charge that it his voice on tape.
Gehlot is caught in a power tussle with Sachin Pilot, now sacked from his post as deputy chief minister.
The transcripts of conversations mentioned in the two FIRs lodged by the special operation group (SOG) of Rajasthan police present a picture wherein individuals are allegedly conspiring to topple the Congress government in Rajasthan and openly using words such as '30 MLAs', 'Sachin Ji' and 'people in Delhi who have received the first instalment'.
After a complaint filed by Congress Chief Whip Mahesh Joshi, the FIRs were registered by the SOG under Section 124A (sedition) and Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), said Ashok Rathore, additional director general (ADG), Anti-Terror Squad (ATS)-SOG, Rajasthan Police.
In both FIRs, the accused have been listed as 'unknown'. However, one of the FIRs mention three people -- Bhanwar Lal Sharma, Gajendra Singh and Sanjay Jain.
At present in the House of 200 MLAs in the State Assembly, including the 19 rebel legislators, the Congress has 107 MLAs -- six of them are originally from Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party and changed camp last year. It also has the support of at least a dozen independent MLAs. Whereas, BJP has 72 of its own MLAs and the support of three Rashtriya Loktantrik Party MLAs.
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(With PTI Inputs)
