Vasundhara Raje denies helping Gehlot during 2020 Congress crisis; 'Conspiracy against me'

Former Rajasthan Chief Minister and BJP leader Vasundhara Raje countered Ashok Gehlot's claims a day after he praised her for saving the Congress regime in 2020. She alleged that Gehlot is lying out of fear of losing the 2023 Assembly elections and added that his false allegations showcase that he is rattled by the rebellion in the state Congress unit.

This comes after Rajasthan CM Gehlot, while addressing a programme in Dholpur on Sunday, targetted rivals within Congress and credited certain BJP leaders for having helped him save his government in 2020 during a crisis when some party MLAs revolted and tried to topple his government. He took the names of Vasundhara Raje, former Assembly Speaker Kailash Meghwal, and MLA Shobharani Kushwaha for not being in favour of toppling the elected Congress government.

Hitting back at Gehlot, Vasundhara Raje said, "Gehlot's statement against me is a conspiracy. Nobody can insult me as much as Gehlot has done. He is lying out of fear of losing the 2023 Assembly elections and has made such false allegations as he is rattled by the rebellion in his own party."

Rajasthan | Former CM & BJP leader Vasundhara Raje counters CM Ashok Gehlot's statement about her, says, "Gehlot's statement against me is a conspiracy. Nobody can insult me as much as Gehlot has done. He is lying out of fear of losing 2023 Assembly elections and has made such… pic.twitter.com/XcGNbUKKcY

— ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) May 7, 2023

What did Gehlot say?

On Sunday, Gehlot said, "Former Chief Ministers of Rajasthan Vasundhara Raje Scindia, Shobha Rani, and Kailash Meghwal knew their party people were toppling the government. Vasundhara Raje Scindia and Kailash Meghwal had said that it has never been our tradition to topple the elected government on the basis of money. They did not support those who toppled the government due to which our government survived."

Targeting rivals within the party, CM Gehlot said that he had requested the MLAs, who revolted, to return the money they had taken from the BJP so that they could perform without any pressure.

Gehlot exposed the BJP's game plan of toppling his government and said, "Amit Shah, Dharmendra Pradhan, and Gajendra Shekhawat conspired together and distributed the money inside the Rajasthan government. I advised our MLAs (who revolted) that even if some of the money taken has been spent by them, they should inform us. I will give you money and tell AICC but don't take BJP's money. If you will keep their money, they will scare you later, threaten you... They took away 25 MLAs. Amit Shah plays a very dangerous game, give his money back."

#WATCH | Rajasthan: "...Vasundhara Raje (former CM) & former assembly speaker Kailash Meghwal said they don't have tradition here to topple elected govt through money-power. MLA Shobharani Kushwah heard them & didn't support those people (who were attempting to topple Congress… pic.twitter.com/JkSDUiCOXV

— ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) May 7, 2023

In July 2020, Ashok Gehlot accused the BJP of trying to overthrow his government by offering Congress lawmakers bribes but the BJP denied any involvement.

Notably, Gehlot and Pilot's feud has been simmering since before 2020 and Pilot was sacked as deputy CM and removed as state unit chief. The fresh crisis between the Congress duo emerged months before the assembly polls in the state as Pilot went on a hunger strike claiming that the Gehlot government failed to take action against the previous government for corruption.