Jaipur: The Congress demanded Friday the arrest of Union Minister and BJP leader Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and rebel Congress MLA Bhanwarlal Sharma. The Congress did so after two audio clips surfaced pertaining to an alleged conspiracy to topple the Ashok Gehlot government. AICC spokesperson Randeep Surjewala also demanded the arrest of one Sanjay Jain, whom he described as a BJP leader.
Cracking the whip, the Congress suspended party MLAs Sharma, who is purportedly talking with the minister in the audio clips. The party also suspended Vishvendra Singh from the primary membership and issued them show cause notices.
Sharma, a Sachin Pilot loyalist, has, however, denied the allegations. When the audio tapes surfaced Thursday, he had termed them as fake and said the voice in it was not his.
Surjewala charged that the conspiracy to topple the Congress government was clear in the audio tapes. He termed it as a black chapter in the history of democracy.
“Two audio tapes surfaced last (Thursday) night on the so-called conversation of Union Minister Gajendra Singh, Congress MLA Bhanwarlal Sharma and BJP leader Sanjay Jain. The conspiracy to topple the Congress government is clear through the so-called conversation. This is a black chapter in the history of democracy,” Surjewala said at a press conference outside a hotel where the Congress MLAs are lodged here.
Surjewala demanded that the ‘Special Operations Group’ of the Rajasthan Police register an FIR against Shekhawat, Sharma and Jain and arrest them for the alleged conspiracy to topple the government. Surjewala said that if there are any chances of influencing the investigation by misusing the post which, he says, appears to be the case, then Shekhawat should be arrested by obtaining a warrant. Similar action should also be taken against Sharma and Jain, the Congress leader demanded.
Apart from those who have been named in the conversation in the audio tapes, he said, it should also be probed whether any other person or MLA is involved in alleged exchange of money for toppling the government. Surjewala also demanded that Sachin Pilot, who has already been sacked as deputy CM and PCC president, to make his stand clear publicly about the alleged mention of ‘providing the list of MLAs to BJP’ in the audio tapes.
