The BJP tried to bring down the Rajasthan government, says Ashok Gehlot. (Archive)
Jaipur:
Rajasthan’s Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday warned of further attempts to overthrow the elected governments in his state and Maharashtra, and launched a direct attack on Union Interior Minister Amit Shah, whom he accused of holding meetings. clandestine with the MLAs in Congress earlier this year.
Speaking at the opening of a party office in Sirohi district, Gehlot, whose government was on the brink of collapse in July after a rebel group led by Sachin Pilot (and allegedly backed by the BJP) threatened to withdraw support, said that the MLA in question had informed him of the meeting.
“They (the BJP) tried to bring down the Rajasthan government. After meeting with Amit Shah and (Union Minister) Dharmendra Pradhan, our MLA told me that they were embarrassed to see Amit Shah as Minister of the Interior,” he said. Gehlot.
“They were giving assurances (to the MLAs) that they had brought down five different governments and this will be the sixth. The BJP has been conspiring like this,” added Rajasthan’s chief minister.
The BJP responded through Gulab Chand Kataria, the leader of the opposition, who suggested that Mr. Gehlot and Congress would be better served “by ensuring peace within their own home.”
“There is no point in making accusations against others when peace is not guaranteed within their own home. Those who were on the brink of rebellion were never pacified,” Kataria said, referring to the dramatic revolt led by Pilot. than six months ago.
In July, Congress desperately fought to stay in power in Rajasthan after Sachin Pilot, who was then deputy chief minister, and 19 MLAs established their base at a luxury resort in BJP-ruled Haryana, lending more ammunition to the claim of the Congress that his rivals were behind. the attempted coup.
The issues were resolved only after a meeting between Mr. Pilot and the Gandhis – Rahul and Priyanka Vadra – and the promise of a panel to hear and address the complaints raised by the rebels.
Mr. Gehlot, who shot several rude barbs at Mr. Pilot at the time, even calling him “nikamma(useless), had also alleged a “conspiracy” by the BJP to destabilize his government.
The BJP had denied any plot to overthrow the congressional government, and Kataria at the time blamed the party’s infighting for the chaos.
The congressional saga of survival in Rajasthan came just months after he fought (and failed) to stay in power in Madhya Pradesh, where the influential Jyotiraditya Scindia led a revolt and nearly two dozen members of the People’s Liberation Army seized. they entered the fold of the BJP.
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