New Delhi: Amid the ongoing political drama in Rajasthan, at the centre of attention are three Congress MLAs who switched their loyalties at the last minute and dashed Sachin Pilot’s hopes of pulling the rug from under the Ashok Gehlot government in the state.
These MLAs are – Danish Abrar, son of late MP Abrar Ahmed, who is close to a powerful functionary in Delhi in the Congress setup, Chetan Dudi who is MLA from Didwana and Rohit Bohra, MLA from Rajkhera. These three MLAs were considered close to Pilot and came to Delhi on the first day itself but later returned.
The other MLA whose audio clips have been leaked is Bhanwar Lal Sharma who was allegedly heard negotiating with the BJP. The three young MLAs returned to Jaipur after intervention by a top AICC functionary who convinced them to return and also got to know the plans of the Pilot camp and exact numbers of MLAs in touch with Pilot for a possible coup, sources said .
The coup had to aborted midway as the Congress came to know of the plans and guarded its MLAs who did not reach Delhi. Meanwhile these three MLAs on reaching Jaipur denied any meeting with the BJP and briefed the press “We are the soldiers of Congress and will be with the party till our last breath” said Bohra. Dudi said his leader is Sonia Gandhi while Danish Abrar maintained that the government is under no threat.
The three MLAs returned to Jaipur and maintained that they were on a personal visit to Delhi, but the leak of tapes of Bhanwar Lal Sharma has put the Pilot camp in the dock.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera slammed the BJP, said, “The entire shamelessness of this admission is very shocking they are not worried about the fact that they caught redhanded but they are worried about the fact that they were being recorded and asking if was it legal.”
However, Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has denied that he was in touch with Sharma but Congress Sunday demanded removal of Shekhawat.
“Congress demands that either Gajendra Singh Shekhawat resigns or else he should be removed so that he cannot influence the probe,” said party leader Ajay Maken in Jaipur.
Meanwhile 19 MLAs who were staying in Gurugram have shifted to a south Delhi hotel, said sources however it’s not clear in which hotel they are as earlier the MLAs were in ITC Grand Bharat in Gurugram but after the Rajasthan Special Operations Group reached there the MLAs shifted base and the Pilot camp is tightlipped about it.