Gajendra Shekhawat lashes out at Ashok Gehlot for 'hooliganism' amid tussle with Governor

Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat lashed out at Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot for his warning to Governor Kalraj Mishra threatening gherao of the Raj Bhavan, saying his post of CM is meant for governance and "not for goondagardi (hooliganism)". 

Taking to Twitter, Shekhawat quoted Gehlot saying he is not responsible for securing the Raj Bhavan in the event of a gherao and questioned can a responsible CM say this to the Governor of a state. "Gehlot ji seems to forget that the chair he sits in is for governance & not for goondagardi (sic)," he wrote on the micro-blogging platform.

Notably, the BJP leader is himself embroiled in an audiotape scandal that purportedly shows him conspiring to topple the Gehlot government through horse-trading of MLAs and colluding with rebel Congress legislators of the Sachin Pilot camp.

Surjewala responds

The Congress was quick to respond, with senior spokesperson Randeep Surjewala instead accusing BJP of engaging in "hooliganism" and questioning why the BJP is running away when the Congress government wants to call a Legislative Assembly session?

"The BJP is doing 'hooliganism'. Can the Governor refuse to call the Legislative Assembly session under Article 174? Why is the BJP running away when the Congress government wants to call a Legislative Assembly session? How long will you rip public opinion?" wrote Surjewala, retweeting Shekhawat's post.

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Guv bidding for Centre: Gehlot

After the cabinet meeting on Friday, CM Ashok Gehlot alleged that Centre is pressurising the Governor to not allow assembly session in the state. Revealing that he had demanded assembly session to prove his majority in the House, Gehlot said that even after repeated requests, Governor Kalraj Mishra has not responded, adding that he is acting under the Centre's pressure.

Moreover, Gehlot issues a threat to the Governor saying that if he doesn't allow the session, people of the state might gherao the Raj Bhavan and he would not take responsibility for any such incident. He later paraded his MLAs to gherao the building.

Audiotape scandal

Ashok Gehlot had a day earlier suggested that the audiotapes of a purported conversation involving Gajendra Singh Shekhawat conspiring to topple his government should be sent to Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in the United States for a fair investigation into its authenticity. The audiotape scandal came to the fore after Surjewala read out a transcript of alleged audio of horse-trading between rebel MLAs and BJP. 

Speaking to reporters, Gehlot said, "They (BJP) are now caught red-handed. If they think they don't trust the Rajasthan government, we don't trust Delhi, then they can send the audio-tapes to the FSL agency in the US for a voice test. They should step forward and undergo a voice test. Union Ministers/MLAs/MPs give speeches so everyone knows it is their voice."

The Rajasthan Police Special Operations Group (SOG) on Monday sent a notice to Shekhawat over the audio-tape scandal. Shekhawat had earlier denied that he figured in the audio clip and said he is open to a probe. The SOG has so far registered three FIRs on complaints related to horse-trading to allegedly dislodge the Congress government in the state. 

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READ | Rajasthan Crisis: Ashok Gehlot Suggests Sending Audiotapes To FSL In US For Voice Test