'Gehlot tapped phones of Pilot, Congress leaders': Former CM's ex-OSD
Congress leader Ashok Gehlot's former Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Lokesh Sharma, has alleged that during the 2020 party crisis in the state, the phones of party rebels, including Sachin Pilot, and their movements were tracked at the behest of the former chief minister, according to a report in the Indian Express. He claimed that the audio clips of rebel Congress leaders and their phone calls provided to the news organizations were given to him by Gehlot himself.
Why does this story matter?
In 2020, the leak of three audio clips allegedly involving Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, a middleman named Sanjay Jain, and the then-Congress MLAs Bhanwarlal Sharma and Vishvendra Singh had led to a political crisis in Rajasthan. They were allegedly heard devising a plan to topple the Gehlot government. Pilot, the then deputy CM, had led a rebellion of 19 Congress MLAs.
Gehlot asked me if I had destroyed the phone: Sharma
Sharma further revealed that he transferred the audio files from the pen drive to his laptop and then disseminated them using his mobile phone. He also claimed that Gehlot inquired if he had destroyed the phone used for sharing these recordings and urged him to dispose of his laptop. While Sharma complied with disposing of the phone, he retained his laptop. "Gehlot asked me if I had destroyed the phone," Sharma disclosed.
Sharma had previously accused Gehlot of spying on Pilot
These allegations by Sharma are not new; he had previously accused Gehlot of spying on Pilot during the party's internal conflict in 2020. The accusations resurface as 13 seats in Rajasthan are set to be contested in the second phase of polling on April 26. Additionally, Sharma is implicated in a First Information Report (FIR) filed in Delhi in March 2021 related to these audio clips. He faces charges of criminal conspiracy and illegal interception of telephone conversations.
Congress's response
In response to Sharma's allegations, Congress spokesperson Swarnim Chaturvedi retorted, "He is not a member of the organization and he is in touch with Bharatiya Janata Party leaders. Hence, he's acting on their instructions."
