Audio of Shekhawat's chat with Cong leaders on 'toppling' Rajasthan govt shared by Gehlot: Ex-OSD

Jaipur: Ashok Gehlot's ex-OSD Lokesh Sharma on Wednesday claimed that the clip of an alleged telephone conversation between Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and some Congress leaders on "toppling" the state's Congress government in 2020 was given to him by the former chief minister.

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

He also said he would provide evidence supporting his claim to the investigating agency, if sought.

"I did not get the audio clip from social media. The then-chief minister Ashok Gehlot had given me all these audio clips through this pen drive and asked me to circulate those to the media. I followed his instructions," Sharma claimed while showing a pen drive to the reporters.

Gehlot, who is campaigning for his son Vaibhav Gehlot in the Jalore Lok Sabha seat, could not be contacted for comments.

Sharma on Wednesday also accused Gehlot of hatching a conspiracy to tarnish the image of Shekhawat and the then-deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot.

He alleged that the former chief minister put the phones of Pilot and other Congress leaders under surveillance, was involved in the Rajasthan Teacher Eligibility Test (REET) paper leak and kept the party high command in the dark.

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

Sharma approached Delhi High Court to quash the FIR. In June 2021, the high court granted an interim stay on coercive action against Sharma.

He further claimed that he followed Gehlot's instructions and did not disclose the source of the clips despite questioning by the Crime Branch.

Sharma alleged he was assured full cooperation by Gehlot when a case was registered against him. However, he was neglected and faced mental torture due to the case and the questioning.

"On July 16, 2020, the then-chief minister came to Hotel Fairmont where the Congress MLAs of his camp were staying following the political crisis. He left the hotel around 4 pm. Later, I got a call from Gehlot's PSO Ramniwas that he was calling me to the chief minister's residence," Sharma said.

"When I reached, Gehlot gave me this pen drive having three audio clips and a paper with a transcript of the clips. He asked me to circulate those to the media," he added.

Sharma said he went home, transferred the audio clips to his laptop and then to his mobile phone before circulating those to the media.

He also showed the laptop to the reporters. He claimed that after giving the pen drive, Gehlot called him twice on WhatsApp to know why the news had still not been broadcast in the media.

Sharma claimed that after the news was broadcast, Gehlot spoke to him to know what he did with his phone -- if he had destroyed it. To support his claim, Sharma also played a recording of a purported telephone conversation between him and Gehlot.

The Congress leader also claimed that the SOG raided his private office to ensure that the mobile phone used to circulate the audio clips was destroyed.

He said he felt used by Gehlot and sidelined when the former chief minister's objective of "saving his chair" was fulfilled.

"I am disclosing all this because me and my family have been through a tough time. I had no role in tapping phones. I did what my boss asked me to do. I did not say this when the Congress was in power because I was working as his OSD (officer on special duty). When the party lost the assembly elections, I had held Gehlot responsible," he said.

Accusing Gehlot of being involved in the REET paper leak, Sharma said the veteran Congress leader played with the futures of lakhs of youngsters and is now concerned only about the future of his son.

"Gehlot has focused only on the Jalore seat where his son is contesting," he said.

Sharma also alleged that there was huge corruption in the purchase of equipment during the Covid pandemic.

There was a mining scam and corruption in the scheme to distribute mobile phones for free to women in 2023, he said and called on the state's BJP government to investigate these.

Sharma said the Congress leadership wanted to make Gehlot the party's national president in September 2022 but he kept the high command in the dark and did not allow a change in leadership.

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

Clips of alleged telephone conversations between Shekhawat and Congress leaders surfaced amid a rebellion against Gehlot by his then-deputy Pilot and 18 party MLAs supporting him.

Sharma had circulated the clips purportedly containing conversations about "toppling" the Congress government. PTI