Reference in FIR to Dy CM riled his camp, revealed rift

JAIPUR: The ongoing rift between Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot has been a poorly kept secret within the state Congress, but it has come out in the open with the Special Operations Group (SOG) filing an FIR against two persons arrested on Saturday for trying to topple the Gehlot government which also has a reference to the deputy CM.
The SOG FIR, registered on the basis of the intercepted conversation between the accused Bharat Malani and Ashok Singh Chouhan, says that the two spoke about the rift between the two Congress members and how the government can be toppled in such a situation by dividing Congress and the independents supporting the Gehlot government. Quoting from the conversation about the ‘next CM’, the FIR says: “While BJP wants a CM from its camp and deputy CM (a reference to Pilot) to be made a minister at the Centre, the deputy CM is saying that he will be the next CM.”
The FIR draws the conclusion that the conversation makes it clear that some people were involved in hatching a conspiracy to topple the democratically elected government and also earn money from it. Sources in the state Congress said the Pilot camp is furious by this development as the FIR has been filed by the SOG, which comes under the home department, a portfolio held by the CM himself.
The SOG has sought time from Gehlot, Pilot, Congress chief whip Mahesh Joshi and others, including independent MLAs, to record their statements in the case.
Gehlot took to Twitter to acknowledge that notices have been served to Congress members but at the same time, he underplayed the development. “In the complaint received by SOG of horse-trading of Congress MLAs by BJP, I, deputy CM, chief whip and few others have received notices to give our statements. It should not be misintrepreted by certain sections of the media,” he said. SOG ADG Ashok Rathore said, “We have asked the chief minister deputy CM and Joshi, among others, to give us time and indicate the place for taking their statements in this matter.”