Notices issued to Raj CM, deputy CM for recording statement over bid to 'topple' their govt

The police's special operations group (SOG) also sent a notice to Government Chief Whip Mahesh Joshi to record his statement, they said. The move came after the SOG on Friday registered an FIR against two people, who have been detained, for their alleged involvement in horse trading of Congress MLAs for toppling the Ashok Gehlot government.

The Rajasthan police have issued notices to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot to record their statement in connection with the alleged attempts to topple their Congress government, sources said on Saturday. The police's special operations group (SOG) also sent a notice to Government Chief Whip Mahesh Joshi to record his statement, they said.

The move came after the SOG on Friday registered an FIR against two people, who have been detained, for their alleged involvement in horse-trading of Congress MLAs for toppling the Ashok Gehlot government. "Notices have been issued to the chief minister, deputy chief minister and government chief whip for recording their statement in connection with the matter," an official source told PTI.

The sources said nearly a dozen MLAs and others may also be issued notices soon. They said the probe has revealed that two-three MLAs were also involved in offering money to the Congress and other MLAs on behalf of the BJP. However, they refused to disclose the names of the MLAs.

Also, action against those involved in the matter is also likely to be taken by the anti-corruption bureau under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Meanwhile, the SOG has detained the two people whose calls were intercepted. "One person was detained from Udaipur and one from Ajmer district late last night. The y were brought to Jaipur for interrogation," an official of the SOG said.

The SOG registered the FIR on the basis of facts that surfaced during the interception of two mobile numbers which indicated that efforts were being made to poach ruling party MLAs, a senior police official had said. The chief minister had alleged that attempts were being made to destabilise the state government and the government chief whip had filed complaints with the SOG and ACB demanding an inquiry into the case ahead of Rajya Sabha elections for three seats in the state last month.

The deputy chief minister, who is also the PCC chief, had said that no such fact had come to his notice and no MLA complained to him in this regard. Amid allegations of horse-trading of MLAs, the Congress and other supporting MLAs were kept in a resort for several days till the Rajya Sabha elections on June 19.

The chief minister, ahead of the RS elections, had blamed the BJP for trying to destabilise his government like Madhya Pradesh, an allegation which the BJP had rejected as baseless.

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