Trouble brewing again in Rajasthan Congress, Pilot camp MLA claims phone tapping by govt

rajasthan phone tapping — Image Source : PTI (FILE)
Trouble brewing again in Rajasthan Congress, Pilot camp MLA claims phone tapping by govt

Phone tapping charges have come back to haunt Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot amid a growing rebellion by former deputy CM Sachin Pilot. Congress MLA Ved Prakash Solanki has alleged that some legislators have talked about their phones being tapped. He, however, didn't name any MLA who levelled the phone tapping charge.

Solanki, an MLA from Chaksu seat, is a staunch supporter of Sachin Pilot. He said that MLAs also fear of being trapped by various agencies.

"I do not know if my phone is being tapped or not. Some legislators have told me that their phones are being tapped. I am also not aware if the state government is involved in phone tapping. Many officials told them (legislators) that it seems that there are efforts underway to trap them," he said.

Solanki added thet some MLAs have informed the Chief Minister about the matter.

Meanwhile, BJP state president Satish Poonia has charged that the Congress is intimidating its MLAs.

“Today again a Congress MLA is saying that many MLAs say their phones are being tapped and spying is happening. Congress should tell who these MLAs are? The Congress is intimidating its own MLAs," he tweeted.

In July last year, Pilot and 18 Congress legislators had rebelled against Gehlot. One of the accusations they levelled was about illegal phone tapping. The charges gained ground when some audio clips of telephonic conversations were shared by Gehlot’s officer on special duty (OSD) Lokesh Sharma. The audio clips were later handed over to Rajasthan Police’s special operations group (SOG) to investigate charges that some legislators were trying to topple an elected government through horse trading. The SOG ultimately closed the case after the Congress high command intervened to resolve the issues between Gehlot and Pilot.

Earlier this week, a group of Congress MLAs met Sachin Pilot and expressed support for the dissident leader as trouble brewed again in the party.

Notably, an All India Congress Committee (AICC) panel formed last year to sort out differences between Gehlot and the Pilot camp is yet to come up with a solution. Pilot was sacked as the deputy CM and the state’s Congress chief after his rebellion last year.