News Brief
Ashok Gehlot Behind Phone Tap Of Sachin Pilot And Rebels, Claims Former OSD
Former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot
Lokesh Sharma, former officer on special duty (OSD) to Ashok Gehlot, leveled several accusations against the former chief minister of Rajasthan.
Sharma, who was questioned in the illegal phone tapping case, alleged that Gehlot had handed him audio clips of cabinet ministers to be released to the media.
"I was silent so far despite intense interrogation several times for 8-9 hours by the Crime Branch in Delhi in the phone tapping case. But the person who was responsible for the phone-tapping incident decided to leave me in the lurch. I was made to take the fallout,” Sharma stated.
He claimed that Gehlot gave him recordings of Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Congress leader Bhanwarlal Sharma, and Sanjay Jain.
"Earlier, I had said that I had received the recordings through social media, but that was not true," he added.
Sharma further alleged that the phones of Sachin Pilot and those close to him were tapped upon discovering their intentions to approach the Congress high command over issues with Gehlot’s leadership.
"It is wrong to say that the BJP was behind the attempt to topple Ashok Gehlot's government. Sachin Pilot wanted to convey his concerns about the state leadership to the party high command. When he and people close to him were planning to meet with the High command, their phones were put on tapping," Sharma said, India Today reported.
During his statements, Sharma played a purported recording of his conversation with Gehlot where he (Gehlot) inquired whether the phone used to send the recordings to the media had been destroyed.
Sharma responded that he had previously told the media he received the audio recordings through social media.
"He felt that I had not destroyed the phone. On 26 November 2021, an SOG raid was conducted on my office. This is the truth of our former Chief Minister, how he uses people for his benefit and then leaves them alone. I had no involvement in the recording. Whether it was legal or illegal, former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot got the recording done and gave it to me in a pen drive,” Sharma said.
Sharma also claimed that Gehlot was behind the attempt to sabotage Sachin Pilot’s chances of becoming the Chief Minister of Rajasthan.
"Ashok Gehlot’s stubbornness in Rajasthan, who thinks that no one other than him should become Chief Minister of the state, even led him to deceive the Congress high command who had supported him," Sharma said.
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