Gehlot writes to PM Modi, alleges attempts to topple his government

Hours after the Sachin Pilot camp urged the Supreme Court to hear its petition before taking a decision on Rajasthan Assembly Speaker CP Joshi’s plea on disqualification of 19 rebel MLAs, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday (July 22) said he had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging attempts to topple his government.

Gehlot shared the letter on Twitter, saying that he would like to draw Modi’s attention to the “malicious efforts” being made to bring down elected governments in states through horse-trading, as opposed to democratic norms. He cited the examples of Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, where Congress governments were toppled.

In the letter, the Chief Minister alleged that Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, other BJP leaders and some over-ambitious leaders of the Congress party were conspiring to bring down the Congress government in the state and insulted the people’s mandate. It was an open violation of constitutional values, he said.

The Chief Minister posted the tweet hours after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided the premises of his brother as part of countrywide searches in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged fertiliser scam. ED sleuths were assisted by personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

Officials said the raids were being carried out against Ashok Gehlot’s elder brother Agrasain Gehlot, who is the promoter of a seeds and fertiliser company identified as Anupam Krishi. Responding to the raids, Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said, “Prime Minister Modi has created raid raj in the country but we are not going to be scared.”