Jaipur: Accusing Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) of toppling the government in Rajasthan, the state’s Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said that Home Minister of India Amit Shah and Dharmendra Pradhan are making fresh attempts to destabilise the Congress government in Rajasthan.
According to a report by Times of India, Gehlot also targeted former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, who had sought a change of guard in the state in July.
Quoting Gehlot, the report said that Shah and Pradhan, along with BJP MP Syed Zafar Islam, recently met some Congress MLAs over tea and tried to convince them that the Congress government in Rajasthan could be toppled as was done in five other states.
“The meeting lasted an hour. The MLAs told me they felt ashamed that the Union home minister’s post was once donned by Sardar Patel but now it was being held by Shah, who was offering us sweets and namkeen. Dharmendra Pradhan was ‘acting’ as if talking to SC and HC judges to ‘encourage’ the MLAs. They (BJP members) tried to make us feel that it was a matter of pride for him (Shah) that five state governments have been toppled and the sixth one might be toppled too,” the report quoted Gehlot narrating the incident.
“Now we get to hear that the next turn is that of Maharashtra,” said Gehlot.
The comments were made during a function at Congress office in Sirohi, where Gehlot deliberated upon his party leaders to be cautious of BJP conspiring to topple state governments using “money and muscle power”.
However, the leader of opposition Gulab Chand Kataria called it “absurd” and said that they have been telling Gehlot not to blame others for the differences within his party.
“The differences among top Congress members are known to all. The CM is yet again passing the blame on BJP for the threat they have from their own members,” the report quoted Kataria as saying.
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