Ex-Aide claims Gehlot ordered phone tapping during Rajasthan crisis
Discover revelations from a former aide alleging phone tapping and political intrigue during the 2020 Rajasthan Congress crisis.
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During the 2020 crisis in the Congress Party of Rajasthan, there were some serious accusations against Ashok Gehlot, the former Chief Minister. It's said that Gehlot might have ordered the tracking of phones and movements of party members who opposed him, like Sachin Pilot, his rival. Gehlot's former aide, Lokesh Sharma, who was close to him, said that Gehlot's actions led to phone calls being recorded, and he was asked to share them with the media.
Sharma revealed that during the crisis, he faced intense questioning by the Delhi Crime Branch about the phone tapping. He kept quiet until now because he felt abandoned by the person who ordered the tapping, leaving him to deal with the fallout alone.
According to Sharma, Gehlot gave him recordings of phone conversations involving Gajendra Singh Shekhawat - Union Minister, late Congress leader Bhanwarlal Sharma, and a middleman named Sanjay Jain, on a pen drive. Gehlot told him to leak these recordings to the media.
Sharma also said that the phones of Sachin Pilot and his allies were tapped when they were planning to talk to the Congress leadership about issues with Gehlot's leadership in the state. This move was supposed to make it seem like Pilot and the BJP were plotting against the government.
In 2020, some audio clips were released allegedly featuring conversations involving Gajendra Singh, Sanjay Jain, Bhanwarlal Sharma and Vishvendra Singh - Congress leader. These discussions were said to be about destabilising the Rajasthan government, causing Sachin Pilot to lead a rebellion of 19 Congress MLAs.
Sharma himself has been named in a police report filed in Delhi in March 2021, after a complaint by BJP leader Shekhawat about these audio recordings. He has been questioned several times by the Delhi Police about this matter.
The tension between Pilot and Gehlot started when the Congress came into power in 2018. In 2020, Pilot attempted a revolt against the Gehlot government, which resulted in him losing important party positions.
