Rajasthan Police’s Special Operations Group to probe MLA horse trading case

The Special Operations Group (SOG), the crack investigative wing of Rajasthan Police, is handling the probe of the alleged horse trading involving some Congress legislators before the June 19 Rajya sabha poll for two seats. It’s for the first time that the SOG is probing such a case. The complaint was lodged by the Chief Whip in Rajasthan Assembly, Mahesh Joshi, that some Congress and Independent MLAs were being approached by the BJP to defect before the Rajya sabha elections in lieu of money. The Rajya Sabha election is being used by the BJP to destabilise the elected government of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

After doing the trick in Madhya Pradesh, the BJP has been trying to bring down the Maharashtra government and has intensified its efforts in Rajasthan to poach legislators in a bid to woo their support to win the second seat in the Rajya Sabha poll. The BJP is aiming to gain the support of all the 13 Independents for the Rajya Sabha poll.

It is learnt that Mahesh Joshi has submitted the details of people who had approached the Congress MLAs as well as the Independents with big offers ranging between Rs five and Rs 25 crore to cross over and vote against Congress candidates candidates K C Venugopal and Neeraj Dangi.

After the BJP started sensing that some of its leaders are going to be interrogated for their role in the matter, the party is trying to get the issue probed by the CBI on the pretext that the issue pertains to Rajya Sabha election. The BJP may also insist that the complaint should have been made to the Chief Election Commissioner as the elections are being held under the aegis of the Election Commission. The BJP’s state leadership, after consulting lawyers, will pressure the Union Home Ministry to transfer the case from the SOG to the CBI, it is learnt.

It is learnt that Joshi has given the details of the mobile numbers that were used to woo the Congress and Independent MLAs with offers of money.

Meanwhile, AICC general secretary Avinash Pande, replying to the demands of the BJP to name the persons who had approached the Congress and the Independent MLAs, said that revealing names would not hide that the BJP is hell-bent to destabilise the state government.

Pande said that names also did not surface when the democratically established governments in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh were toppled. The BJP was involved in establishing its governments in Goa, Tripura, Arunachal and Meghalaya, despite lacking the numbers. He said it was the political culture of the BJP to grab power by hook or by crook.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot met the 13 Independent MLAs who have extended support to the Congress for the Rajya Sabha elections. They expressed confidence in the leadership of Gehlot. They said the support extended were unconditional. Similar sentiments were expressed by the six BSP MLAs who had joined the Congress last year.

The strength in Vidhan Sabha of the parties is:Congress - 107, BJP – 72, Independents – 13, Bharatiya Tribals Party – 2, RLD – 1, CPI(M) – 2 and RLP – 3.