JAIPUR: In a fresh twist to the Rajasthan political drama, pro-Gehlot MLAs were shifted to Jaisalmer from Jaipur on Friday afternoon. After a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party at the Fairmont Hotel, the MLAs were flown to Jaisalmer by a special flight.

Sources said the MLAs will stay at two luxury hotels in Jaisalmer till they return a day before the Assembly session begins on August 14. Though there was no official word yet on why the MLAs were shifted, it came a day after CM Ashok Gehlot alleged that the ‘rates’ for buying MLAs were rising after the Assembly session was fixed for Aug 14. 

Ever since the revolt by Sachin Pilot and 18 MLAs supporting him, Gehlot has claimed that the BJP is indulging in horse-trading to topple the Rajasthan government. Sources said the MLAs were getting “tired and bored” at the Jaipur hotel where they have been corralled for over a fortnight. In an interaction with the media at Jaipur, Gehlot said horse-trading efforts have been intensified by the BJP and Pilot camp. “Our MLAs and their families are facing all kinds of pressure and threats on phones.

To save democracy, we are moving them.” Gehlot also insisted that governance would not suffer. “I along with most ministers will be staying in Jaipur so that there is no compromise on governance. I am holding videoconferences on the corona crisis and we have also handled law and order in the state. It is equally important to save our government because the Centre, the Home Ministry itself, is trying to bring down our government,” he said.

When the MLAs were taken by buses to the Jaipur airport around noon, they were seen without wearing masks. Revenue Minister Harish Choudhry, while leaving for Jaisalmer, remarked, “The entire state is like our home… The BJP conspiracy has failed.” The shifting of MLAs gave the BJP a chance to poke fun at the Congress. Rajasthan BJP chief Satish Poonia tweeted: “Ahead of Jaisalmer is Pakistan. And on its other side is Gujarat (a BJP-ruled state).

So where do you want to go? The CM should set his MLAs free.” Meanwhile, Sachin Pilot and his 18 MLAs continue to be elusive. A team of the state’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) that went to the Manesar hotel (near Gurugram in Haryana), from where the MLAs had disappeared a fortnight back, could not find the two MLAs the sleuths were looking for. The two -- Bhanwar Lal Sharma and Vishwendra Singh -- are allegedly involved in the ‘audio tape’ case.

Raj police not allowed to enter Haryana hotels
A team of the Rajasthan Police’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) which went to service notices to two rebel Congress MLAs of the  former deputy CM Sachin Pilot camp in a corruption case at a five-star resort in Haryana’s Manesar was not allowed to enter the premises. Sources said the team, headed by DSP Saleh Mohammad, went to all three five-star resorts in Manesar and Nuh where the legislators are said to be staying along with the 16 other rebel MLAs. While two resort managements gave the team in writing that the MLAs were not staying at their facilities, the third resort management told the team that it was closed.