FIR against Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
Jaipur: An FIR has been filed by the SOG in Rajasthan against Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and two others on the basis of a complaint by Congress whip Mahesh Joshi soon after three audio clips with alleged conversations on toppling of the Ashok Gehlot government were released by the ruling party.
Shekhawat has denied any of the tapes has his voice while another BJP leader said the tapes were doctored.
The clips have recorded purported conversation between Shekhawat, Congress MLA Bhanwarlal Sharma and Jaipur resident and BJP leader Sanjay Jain while discussing plans and actions to topple the Congress government.
The Special Operations Group (SOG) team has been actively following the case with many proofs submitted by the ruling Congress, said officials, adding that the case was also registered against Sharma and Jain.
Joshi said that the party already had "subtle proofs" against the three accused as named in the audio clip. "We are going through the legal route," he said.
Meanwhile, Shekhawat said: "The voice in the tape is not mine and I am ready for investigation."
On Friday morning, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala, citing a leaked audio clip, demanded an investigation into the alleged horse-trading and an FIR against Union minister and Jodhpur MP Gajendra Shekhawat for attempts to topple Ashok Gehlot government's in Rajasthan. Based on the transcript of the purported conversations read by Surjewala at a Press Conference in Jaipur, the Congress suspended two party MLAs Bhanwar Lal Sharma and Vishvendra Singh.
Two Congress MLAs - Pilot loyalist Vishvendra Singh, who was sacked from the Cabinet, and Bhanwar Lal Sharma - have been suspended from the party and show cause notices have been issued to both.
Pilot loyalists Sharma and Vishvendra are among the 19 Congress MLAs who have approached the Rajasthan high court against the notice issued by the Speaker on Congress' petition seeking their disqualification from the state assembly.
Surjewala once again asked Pilot - the leader of the dissident group - to make his stand clear on the current political crisis and respond to the allegations of horse-trading.