Vishwendra Singh of Congress is one of two deputies to be suspended from the party
New Delhi:
Rajasthan’s congressional government “tries to kill democracy,” rebel MP Vishwendra Singh said Monday as the standoff between Team Gehlot and Team Pilot over disqualification notices sent to the latter is played before the High Court of Rajasthan.
“I appeal to the people in my riding – the way the state is trying to kill democracy is not hidden. I was their minister. Now I am being sued by the ACB (anti-corruption bureau) and SOG (Special Operations Group), “The deputy from the Deeg-Kumher constituency in eastern Rajasthan said on Monday.
“We haven’t done anything anti-party. We just want a change of state leadership, that’s all. I am frank and I will do it,” said Singh.
Vishwendra Singh is one of two congressional deputies – the other is Bhanwar Lal Sharma – to be suspended on charges that they conspired with the BJP to overthrow the Gehlot government.
बेबाकी से बोलने वाला आदमी हूँ,
बेबाकी से बोलता रहूँगा
ऐसी गीदड़ भभकीयों से मैं डरने वाला नही हूँ।आप सभी परिवारजनों से मेरी आपसे अपील है कि आप भ्रमित ना हो, भरतपुर राजपरिवार ने आपकी सेवा की है और हमेशा आपका प्यार एवं आशीर्वाद हमे मिलता रहा है, आगे भी इसी प्रकार बनाएं रखे। pic.twitter.com/tw9AA7xJtu
– Vishvendra Singh Bharatpur (@vishvendrabtp) July 20, 2020
Congress claimed that Sharma and Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat could be heard discussing bribes on leaked audio tapes. The two denied that the voices were theirs.
GalacticGaming cannot verify the authenticity of the tapes.
Singh, Sharma and at least 16 other MPs loyal to Sachin Pilot, the former deputy chief whose open revolt left Congress in danger of losing a second state in four months, were reportedly camped in a luxury resort in Haryana. Manesar since the start of the storm.
Rajasthani police made two attempts to reach the rebels and obtain a sample of Mr. Sharma’s voices – to compare with the voices on the fled tapes – but failed both times.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who has become “rogue” according to sources within Team Pilot, also accused his former deputy of being directly involved in the plot.
On Monday, the High Court of Rajasthan continued to hear an application by Team Pilot against their exclusion for “anti-party activities”.
Senior lawyer Harish Salve, a representative from Team Pilot, said the party’s dissent was a “violation of freedom of expression”.
Congress chief Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the president of Rajasthan CP Joshi, said that Team Pilot could not move the court until a decision was made in the assembly.
If the Team Pilot MPs are disqualified, this will drop the majority in the Assembly and help Mr. Gehlot – he has the support of 102 MPs, one more than the majority.
