Jaipur: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and a number of his MLAs have accused BJP of conspiring to topple the state government. However, BJP denied these allegations and highlighted internal conflicts within the ruling Congress party.

The state police's special operations group (SOG) has issued notices to Gehlot and Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot to record their statements on the alleged conspiracy. The police further notified the Government Chief Whip Mahesh Joshi to record his statement.

The notices were issued after the SOG registered an FIR against two people on Friday. The two people have been detained for their alleged involvement in horse-trading of Congress MLAs for toppling the Ashok Gehlot government.

"Notices have been issued to the chief minister, deputy and the government chief whip for recording their statements in connection with the matter," an official source told PTI on Saturday.

Sources said that nearly a dozen MLAs among other others might receive notices.

Gehlot held a press conference on Saturday and alleged that amid the coronavirus pandemic, BJP leaders have "gone beyond humanity" and have engaged in toppling his government. Gehlot exuded confidence and maintained that the Congress dispensation will complete its five-year term.

"The government in Rajasthan is stable, will remain stable and will last five years," Gehlot said. He further alleged that Leader of Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria, Deputy Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore and BJP state president Satish Poonia were executing the agenda of their party's central leadership.

"Amid the crisis posed by the coronavirus pandemic, BJP leaders have gone beyond humanity and are engaging in toppling the government," the chief minister said.

"The BJP has sabotaged governments in several states. It now wants to play the same game in Rajasthan, that it did in Madhya Pradesh. But they have been exposed and people will give the BJP a befitting reply at the right time," he said.

Amid this revived political drama, movement of Congress MLAs has started at the chief minister's residence. The legislators and party leaders would meet Gehlot on Saturday.

On Friday night, over 20 Congress MLAs issued a joint statement blaming BJP for trying to topple the Congress government in the state by "luring" legislators.

They also alleged that the top leadership of the saffron party was involved in the "conspiracy" while insisting that no temptation can shake their integrity.

However, BJP rejected the allegations and maintained that there are internal rifts between the chief minister and his deputy.

The party's state president Satish Poonia said, "BJP has nothing to do with all these allegations. During the Rajya Sabha elections also, they had levelled such baseless allegations."

"The Congress government has failed to deliver and could not manage the COVID-19 crisis properly. Which is why the state government is just trying to divert public attention."

Refuting the claim, Government Deputy Chief Whip Mahendra Chaudhary said that there is no infighting in the Congress. "The BJP is behind the conspiracy of toppling the state government and they have been exposed," he said.

The Congress, which came to power in Rajasthan in December 2018, has 107 MLAs in the House of 200. It has the support of independent MLAs and legislators of other parties like the Rashtriya Lok Dal, CPI(M) and Bhartiya Tribal Party (BTP).

Soon after it had won the Assembly election, both Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot were in the race for the chief minister's post. The party high command later named Gehlot as the CM and Pilot his deputy.

In the run-up to the Rajya Sabha elections for two seats in the state last month, Gehlot and Mahesh Joshi had alleged that BJP was trying to poach Congress and other MLAs to destabilise the government.

Joshi had filed complaints with the SOG and the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) of the Rajasthan Police and urged them to investigate the opposition's attempts.  Congress expressed concerns over the opposition’s attempt to destabilise the state government and shifted Independent and Congress MLAs to a resort in to prevent any poaching attempt.

An official said that last night the SOG intercepted calls and detained two people, one from Udaipur and the other from Ajmer. Their phone numbers were intercepted to check for criminal activities such as smuggling of illegal arms and mining explosives.

The authorities are still investigating their roles in the conspiracy and political affiliations if any.

On the basis of the information that came up during the call interceptions, the SOG on Friday registered an FIR under IPC sections 124-A [sedition] and 120-B [conspiracy].

The FIR mentions that two people were allegedly talking about the rift between the chief and the deputy chief minister, toppling the Congress government by poaching MLAs, and the possibility of earning Rs 1,000-2,000 crore.

The FIR entails the information received through sources about the alleged conspiracy and highlights the aforementioned conversation of the two people.

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