On Eve Of Polls, Phone Tapping Allegations Again Against Ashok Gehlot

New Delhi:

Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s former aide Lokesh Sharma has once again hit out at him over allegations of phone tapping in the previous government and the REET exam paper leak issue.

Timed just a day ahead of the second phase of the Lok Sabha election, Loksh Sharma claimed Mr Gehlot had handed him a pen drive with some audio clips that were then leaked to the media. He claimed he was told that these were interceptions of phone conversations but was not sure if they were legal.

In July 2020, when the Ashok Gehlot government was being rocked by the rebellion of Sachin Pilot and 19 MLAs, certain audio conversations of rebel MLAs like Vishwendra Singh and Bhanwar Lal Sharma were leaked to the media and had gone viral.

One of these conversations was allegedly between Bhanwar Lal, a rebel MLA and Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. The purported conversation indicated that the BJP was involved in the attempt to topple the Ashok Gehlot government.

Mr Shekhawat had filed a police case accusing Lokesh Sharma of leaking the alleged conversation. He also filed a defamation case against Mr Gehlot in connection with the issue.

The phone tapping case is being investigated by the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police who had summoned Lokesh Sharma earlier for questioning. He is currently on bail from the Delhi High Court, which has ordered non-coercive action against him

Lokesh Sharma has also alleged that Ashok Gehlot’s close aides were protected by him in the REET paper leak issue of 2022. The leaking of the teachers’ training exam paper or REET was also a political issue raised by the state’s Opposition BJP in last year’s assembly elections.

Mr Sharma has recently been tweeting against his former boss, but this is the first time he has openly spoken out about allegations of phone tapping —  his disclosures timed just a day ahead of voting in Rajasthan and especially voting in Mr Gehlot’s constituency Jodhpur.

Mr Gehlot, who is in Jodhpur after campaigning, has so far not commented on these allegations.