Rajasthan too seems to be feeling the political turbulence with Rajya Sabha polls approaching as the ruling Congress has sent its MLAs including the independents to a resort to prevent them from being poached by the BJP.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot late Wednesday accused the BJP of indulging in horse-trading in Rajasthan to destabilise the government here and said that BJP wants to repeat the Madhya Pradesh story in Rajasthan too.
Claiming a heavy transfer of cash to Jaipur, Gehlot said there were reports about the BJP’s plan similar to that of Madhya Pradesh and some of the party MLAs were offered Rs 25 crore in cash with Rs 10 crore in advance.
“One of our MLAs was offered Rs 25 crore, 10 crore in advance and 15 crore later as horse trading, but he informed us on time. We have been tipped that a huge cash amount has been transferred from Delhi to Jaipur recently which has been informed to us by investigative agencies,” Rajasthan CM said after coming out of Shiv-Vilas Resort where 90 MLAs, both Congress and independents, were camping since evening.
But the party MLAs were “alert and united”, he said, adding that the condition of those who left the Congress to join the BJP was not good.
The resort is situated on the Delhi-Jaipur highway.
Meanwhile, late in the night, these MLAs were asked to go back home.
During the day, a “fruitful” meeting was held with the MLAs, the chief minister said, which was also attended by veteran leader Randeep Surjewala.
CM Ashok Gehlot said the party workers and independents will meet on Thursday again as Congress candidate for Rajya Sabha, KC Venugopal will be coming to Jaipur. Also Rajasthan Congress in-charge Avinash Pandey will also be present during the meeting.
CM further said that I am proud to be the chief minister of state where our MLAs can not be bought.
He also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that the Rajya Sabha elections were postponed under pressure because the BJP could not poach MLAs in Rajasthan and Gujarat.
Last week too, the chief minister had accused the BJP of trying to destabilise his government after toppling the government in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh.
Meanwhile, alleging a bid to poach the party MLAs and the independent legislators backing the government, government chief whip Mahesh Joshi forwarded a written complaint to the DG, Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
He has demanded strict action against BJP workers for trying to lure away the Independent MLAs with money power.
Joshi, in his letter addressed to the DG ACB, said, “On the lines of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, there has been an information coming via our reliable sources about efforts being made by the BJP to destabilise the government in Rajasthan by luring Congress as well as Independent MLAs who are supporting our government.”
“This despicable attempt is not only against democratic values but also against people’s expectations. This is illegal, unethical, condemnable and invites legal action. Strict action should be taken against those involved in such a despicable crime who are trying to lure people’s representatives and destabilise the government,” the letter said.
Congress’ national spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala, who arrived in Jaipur to attend the meeting of the Congress MLAs and Independent legislators, said “repeated assassination” of public mandate has become the BJP’s character.
The BJP’s conspiracy in Rajasthan will not succeed, he said, adding that the Congress MLAs are “fearless”, and therefore, they are not going to fall into any temptation and the BJP will get the “right reply” through democracy.
Meanwhile, on the other hand, state BJP president Satish Poonia said the Congress in Rajasthan is “feeling insecure”.
“Their own house is not in order. They do not trust their MLAs,” Poonia said.
Speaking to IANS, he said, “This is just propaganda made by Congress workers. I openly challenge them to come out with proof confirming their allegation.”
The Rajya Sabha elections are slated to be held on June 19 for 24 seats out of which three seats are in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and four are in Gujarat amongst others.
For the three seats, Congress has nominated two candidates — KC Venugopal and Neeraj Dangi, while BJP has also fielded two candidates — Rajendra Gehlot and Omkar Singh Lakhawat, making the elections interesting.
In the Rajasthan Assembly of 200, the Congress has 107 MLAs, including six those who defected to the party from the BSP last year. The party enjoys the support of 12 of the 13 Independent MLAs in the state.
Last week, after three Congress MLAs resigned ahead of the June 19 Rajya Sabha polls in Gujarat, the party had shifted as many as 25 legislators to a private resort in Rajasthan to prevent poaching by the ruling BJP.
Earlier too, Gujarat MLAs had been shifted to a Jaipur resort to prevent poaching when the elections were scheduled for March 26.
In Madhya Pradesh, the Congress government lost power in March after senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia switched to the BJP with 22 loyalist MLAS. Yesterday, an audio clip surfaced in which the BJP’s Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was purportedly heard claiming that the government was pulled down by the BJP’s central leaders.
The other state where the Congress lost power was Karnataka. The government led by Congress ally HD Kumaraswamy collapsed in July last year after 16 legislators and two independents supporting it, resigned.