Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said on Sunday that Vasundhara Raje and two other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders helped preserve his government from an uprising by his party’s MLAs in 2020.
Targeting the rebel Congress MLAs he said that they should give back the money taken from the BJP so that they can continue with their duty without any external pressure.
In July 2020, Gehlot’s then-deputy Sachin Pilot and 18 other Congress MLAs staged a demonstration against his rule. Following the party’s high command’s intervention, the month-long crisis was resolved. Sachin Pilot was later fired from his positions as state Congress president and deputy chief minister, PTI reported.
Speaking at an event in Dholpur, Gehlot said that the backing of three BJP leaders—former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, former assembly speaker Kailash Meghwal and MLA Shobharani Kushwah—could save his government.
Union ministers Amit Shah, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Dharmendra Pradhan conspired together to topple my government, claims Ashok Gehlot.
He claimed further that they distributed money across Rajasthan and are not taking the money back now. I am surprised that they are not demanding the money back from them (the MLAs).
Gehlot said that he told the MLAs that whatever money they have taken, Rs 10 crore, Rs 20 crore, if they have spent anything, then he is ready to give the part they spent.
“Or I will get it from AICC (All India Congress Committee),” he said.
Gehlot claimed that Amit Shah will constantly exert pressure on the MLAs if they did not return the money.
He alleged that Shah will intimidate the MLAs. “In Maharashtra, he divided Shiv Sena,” Gehlot added.
He claimed that the party had appointed him as chief minister a third time and that it was his responsibility to forget the past while ensuring that the party would win the upcoming assembly elections.
Gehlot asserted that he did not support the overthrow of the Bhairon Singh Shekhawat-led BJP government because it was unfair, just as Raje and Meghwal did not support the overthrow of the Congress government in 2020.
According to him, BJP MLA Shobharani Kushwah also heard them out and decided against supporting the party.
Gehlot and Raje have frequently been charged with “going soft” on each other by critics inside their own parties, particularly when it comes to accusations of corruption.
Any such accord has been refuted by the two leaders. Raje has called claims of cooperation with Gehlot a lie, claiming that milk and lemon juice never go together.
In the Rajya Sabha elections last year, Dholpur MLA Kushwah cast a cross-vote in favour of the Congress candidate, earning him a suspension from the party.
Targeting the rebel Congress MLAs Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot said that the MLAs should give back the money they had taken from BJP so that they can continue with their duty without any pressure. Rajasthan Rajasthan News: Latest Rajasthan News, Live Breaking Updates from Rajasthan Online
