Training his guns on Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday said the purported audio clips on toppling the Congress government were genuine and it could be sent abroad for forensic tests. Without taking the minister’s name, Gehlot questioned why he was not coming forward to give a voice sample.
“If they think they don’t trust Rajasthan government, then they can send the audio-tapes to FSL agency in the US for a voice test. They should step forward and undergo voice test. Union Ministers/MLAs/MPs give speeches so everyone knows it is their voice,” Gehlot told reporters.
The development comes a day after CM Gehlot wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing Shekhawat and other BJP leaders of attempts to topple the state government through “horse trading”. Shekhawat had earlier denied that he figured in the audio clip and said he is open to a probe.
The Congress government in the state, which is fighting a revolt by Sachin Pilot and 18 MLAs, has alleged that the leaked tapes that were widely circulated on social media had Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Congress MLA Bhanwarlal Sharma and and BJP leader Sanjay Jain purportedly plotting to dislodge the Ashok Gehlot government.
The tapes mention “Gajendra Singh”, and though the Congress has alleged that this is actually Shekhawat, the FIRs filed by the state government with the Rajasthan Police and Anti-Corruption Bureau do not say so.
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In an Interview with The Indian Express, Shekhawat has said that Gehlot was trying to defame him. “Initially I thought he was using my shoulders to train his guns on his PCC chief (Pilot), but now I realise he was trying to kill two birds with one stone: finish Sachin Pilot and defame me. All I have done is, I defeated his (Gehlot’s) son Vaibhav in the election [from Jodhpur Lojk Sabha seat]”
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The BJP, meanwhile, has demanded a CBI probe into the phone tapping case.
