Vasundhara Raje, a leader in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), refuted Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s assertion that she and two other BJP leaders had assisted in saving Gehlot’s government from Sachin Pilot’s revolt in 2020.
According to Raje, a former chief minister of Rajasthan, “Gehlot’s ‘praises’ is a big conspiracy” against her and the Congress leader is lying because of dissension in his party.
Speaking at a programme in Dholpur, Gehlot stated that as the state party chief, he did not support overthrowing the BJP government headed by Bhairon Singh Shekhawat because it was unfair. In a similar vein, Raje and Meghwal stated that overthrowing an elected government is not a tradition in Rajasthan.
Meghwal is a former speaker of the State Assembly and is currently an MLA.
“If I wanted, Bhairon Singh ji’s government could have been toppled. I said this was unethical work. The man who is ill, he is getting treatment in America, his condition was very critical and leaders of his party were conspiring to topple his government behind him,” Gehlot said.
He continued, “Kailash Meghwal and Vasundhara Raje also said the same thing. They said that we have never had a tradition to bring down elected governments on money power… what wrong did he do?”
In a statement on Sunday night, Raje called Gehlot’s “praises” for her a huge conspiracy and stated that he “has made such outrageous and untrue allegations because of the rebellion happening in his own party and diminishing mass base”.
No one can insult her as much as Gehlot did throughout his life, the BJP leader said. He is making up such fabricated stories in an unfortunate attempt to avoid a historic defeat in the 2023 Assembly elections, Raje said.
Gehlot and Raje have often been accused by their detractors in their own parties of “going soft” on each other, especially when it came to allegations of corruption.
Any such understanding has been refuted by the two leaders. Raje previously called claims of collusion with Gehlot a lie, claiming that milk and lemon juice never mix.
Also Read: Pakistan To Return 199 Indian Fishermen On May 12
