The Rajasthan political crisis erupted exactly a week ago, soon after Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot alleged that the Opposition BJP was attempting to bribe Congress MLAs. A notice had been sent to several officials, including the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister.
This had been the catalyst for what has become an ongoing turmoil with the relationship between the two factions of the Congress seemingly affected. However, according to an interview Gehlot gave a TV channel recently, this is not a new development.
"There was no dialogue between us since the last one and a half years. A minister who doesn’t talk to the chief minister, doesn’t take his advice, keeps no dialogue with him..." Gehlot was quoted as saying in a Hindustan Times article.
Gehlot maintains that the notice that began the current set of events was not a slight or accusation against Pilot. He adds that if the rebel Congress leader were to return to the party fold, the Chief Minister would "welcome him with a hug".
In the meantime, an eight-member team, headed by Superintendent of Police (SP) Vikas Sharma of Criminal Investigation Department - Crime Branch, Jaipur, has been constituted to investigate the matter related to Rajasthan political crisis registered by the Special Operations Group (SOG).
On Friday, two FIRs were registered by the SOG based on the complaint filed by Congress chief whip Mahesh Joshi about audiotapes, which Congress alleged, had conversations about an alleged conspiracy to topple the Ashok Gehlot-led government.
