Cops stand guard outside the Amarpali office of Rajiv Arora, member of State Congress office, in Jaipur on Monday. | —ANI
New Delhi
Amid the political crisis brewing in Rajasthan after Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot's open revolt against the Congress, two of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's aides were raided on Monday morning.
The Income Tax Department and Enforcement Directorate raided the premises of two party leaders Rajiv Arora and Dharmendra Rathore. Both are close aides of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Five premises in Delhi, Jaipur, Mumbai and Kota and a Jaipur hotel of a jeweller having links with Gehlot's son Vaibhav were raided.
Congress chief whip Mahesh Joshi condemned the raids, alleging that they were initiated at the instance of the BJP government in Delhi. The IT department alleged "tax evasion," citing huge cash transactions by them with alleged links with different business groups in the state.
The Jaipur-based Jeweller Ratan Kant Sharma, business partner of Vaibhav Gehlot, faced IT and ED raids on his Hotel Fairmount in Jaipur. He had allegedly received Rs 96.7 crore from Mauritius and has stakes in Hotel Fairmount. The raids ensued after questioning Sharma by the ED four days ago on the large-scale overseas transactions. Sharma is the owner of Amrapali Jewellers in Jaipur.
Officials from both the agencies refused to comment on the Congress linking the searches to the current political crisis in the state, claiming that all three brought under the scanner have common business interests and not subjected because of their political links.
They said those subjected to searches had interests in a business group having a hydropower infrastructure company, dealing with the hydro mechanical equipment and winning a contract to build a dam in Rajasthan in 2018. The Congress sources said the group had bagged the dam’s contract when the BJP government of Vasundhara Raje was in power and so any aspersions on Ashok Gehlot in the case are unwarranted.
When will CBI enter Jaipur arena? Cong to BJP
Congress chief spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala, who is in Jaipur along with former Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken to tackle the political crisis on Monday tweeted how the Central agencies are stepping into the rift between Gehlot and Deputy CM-cum-State president Sachin Pilot by raiding Gehlot's supporters.
”Ultimately, the BJP agents have entered the field. IT has begun raids in Jaipur. BJP's second frontal organisations also in the field. It is the ED that has mount actions in Jaipur,” he said, wondering “when will not the CBI too come?”
