Jaipur:

A former aide’s statement to Delhi Police in the Rajasthan phone-tapping case can turn the heat on Congress veteran and former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Lokesh Sharma was officer-on-special-duty and handled Mr Gehlot’s press relations when he was Chief Minister. In a seven-page statement, he said Mr Gehlot gave him a pen drive on July 16, 2020, and asked him to leak to the media. This was when a group of Congress MLAs led by Sachin Pilot rebelled against the Ashok Gehlot government, almost bringing it down.

Mr Sharma has said he took the pen drive home, downloaded the contents on his laptop, and then transferred them to his phone. He said that when the recordings went viral, he realised they were clips of tapped conversations between the MLAs who had rebelled and some BJP leaders.

Mr Sharma has said he was only following instructions from his boss.

Lokesh Sharma also alleged that the phones of MLAs, both in the Ashok Gehlot camp and the rebel camp, were being tapped during the 2020 crisis.

Lokesh Sharma may shift blame onto Mr Gehlot, but it is not clear if this will help him avoid prosecution. Delhi Police have charged Lokesh for unlawfully intercepting telephonic conversations. He has also alleged a threat to his life and demanded security for him and his family.

During the 2020 political crisis in Rajasthan, some audio recordings went viral. In these clips, it appeared that BJP leaders were talking to Congress MLAs in the Sachin Pilot camp to topple the Ashok Gehlot-led government. Mr Gehlot assigned the case to Rajasthan Police’s Special Operations Group. BJP leader and Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat was asked to give a voice sample as it appeared he was one of the people speaking to a Congress MLA. In response, Mr Shekhawat registered an FIR against Lokesh Sharma with the Delhi Police Crime Branch in 2021. The FIR against Lokesh Sharma was filed under the charges of criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and unlawful interception of telephonic conversations.

Lokesh Sharma filed a petition with the Delhi High Court in this connection. His statements accusing Mr Gehlot may now spark a political storm in Rajasthan. The former Chief Minister has refrained from commenting on the matter so far.

Jaipur:

The crime branch of Delhi Police has again summoned former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s ex-OSD Lokesh Sharma for interrogation in connection with a phone tapping case registered by Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.

The interrogation this time could be a cause of concern for Ashok Gehlot as his former officer on special duty (OSD) has publicly alleged that the clip of an alleged telephone conversation between Mr Shekhawat and some Congress leaders on “toppling” the then Congress government in 2020 was given to him by Gehlot himself.

Mr Sharma’s claim marked a shift from his previous stand that he had got three clips from social media and forwarded those to news organisations.

After this public disclosure, it is for the first time that the Delhi Police has summoned him. He was last summoned in October last year, when the Congress was in power in the state.

A team of the crime branch arrived in Jaipur and served the notice to Mr Sharma on Sunday, directing him to appear before the branch at 11 am on September 25.

Earlier, the branch had been sending him notices via email.

Mr Sharma confirmed that he has received the notice and will be appearing to join the investigation on the said date and time.

“I will be appearing before the crime branch as directed in the notice,” he said.

After voting for two-phase Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan was over in April this year, Mr Sharma had accused Gehlot of hatching a conspiracy to tarnish the image of his then deputy Sachin Pilot and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, keeping phones of Pilot and other Congress leaders on surveillance, being involved in the REET paper leak and keeping the party high command in the dark.

The former OSD had said that he would be giving the evidence that he possessed regarding his claim to the investigating agency if sought.

However, Mr Gehlot had refused the allegations.

The phone-tapping controversy erupted in July 2020 during a political crisis when the Congress was running the Rajasthan government.

Clips of alleged telephonic conversations between Mr Shekhawat and Congress leaders surfaced amid a rebellion against Ashok Gehlot by Pilot and 18 party MLAs supporting him.

Mr Sharma had circulated the clips purportedly containing conversations about “toppling” the Congress government.

In March 2021, the Delhi Police registered an FIR against Mr Sharma on charges of criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and unlawfully intercepting telephonic conversations on a complaint by Mr Shekhawat.

Mr Sharma has appeared before the crime branch for questioning five times with the last questioning being on October 10 last year.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)