Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday said he was proud of his MLAs who spurned offers of money and post by the BJP as he accused the saffron party of trying to engineer a coup in the state “like in Madhya Pradesh”.
Addressing the media, Gehlot said huge sums of money had reached Jaipur to enable horse-trading in the state and questioned the source of the money. He also said the Congress had the support of 6 BSP and 13 independent candidates and Rajasthan was the first state in the country where no money changed hands.
The Rajasthan government's chief whip on Wednesday said attempts are being made to destabilise the state government even as Congress MLAs were taken to a luxury resort in Jaipur for a meeting called by Gehlot. The development came ahead of the June 19 elections to three Rajya Sabha seats in the state.
Alleging attempts to poach the party MLAs and the independent legislators backing the government, chief whip Mahesh Joshi forwarded a written complaint to the DG, Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). He sought action against "identified" elements for the corrupt conduct and attempts for destabilising the government.
"It has come to my knowledge that like Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, attempts are being made to destabilise the government in Rajasthan," he said in the complaint. But he did not specify who is making the attempts.
ACB DG Alok Tripathi said action will be taken on the complaint. "We have received the complaint and it will be probed. Suitable action will be taken," he added.
Congress national spokesperson Randeep 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. The people of Rajasthan are brave and fearless. Our MLAs are not going to fall into any temptation and ridicule," he said. Stressing that the party has an absolute majority, he said no one can "defeat the public mandate or democracy".
However, 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," he said.
Meanwhile, the MLAs, who were earlier summoned by Gehlot at his residence for a discussion ahead of the June 19 Rajya Sabha elections in the state, were taken to a luxury resort in buses on the Delhi highway. Gehlot also reached the resort to hold discussions.
The Congress has nominated KC Venugopal and Neeraj Dangi for the elections while the BJP fielded Rajendra Gehlot and Onkar Singh Lakhawat.
In the 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.
Resort politics in Gujarat as well
Ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls in Gujarat, the opposition Congress on Wednesday shifted 17 of its MLAs from a resort in Rajkot to a farmhouse near Gadhada town of Botad district, said a party leader.
Fearing poaching, the party had shifted its legislators to various resorts in Gujarat over the last week, dividing them in zone-wise groups. While some MLAs gathered in Rajkot in Saurashtra, a few others were in Abu Road in Rajasthan.
"After meeting local leaders in Gadhada, the MLAs will proceed to Dhari town in Amreli district," said Leader of
Opposition Paresh Dhanani, who is also among these 17 MLAs from Saurashtra region.
Both Gadhada and Dhari Assembly seats are empty at present after Congress's Pravin Maru and JV Kakadiya resigned as legislators soon after the Rajya Sabha polls were announced for the first time in March.
(With inputs from PTI)
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