BJP trying to topple my govt, history won’t forgive this — Ashok Gehlot writes to PM Modi

Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot also wrote similar allegations were made when the MP government was toppled amid Covid crisis & ‘your party had to face infamy across the country’.

File photo | Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot addressing media outside Fairmont hotel in Jaipur on 20 July 2020 | Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint

New Delhi: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot Wednesday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, drawing his attention to the “desperate efforts being made to demolish elected governments in the states through horse-trading”.

He alleged that central leaders and ministers of the BJP, including Gajendra Singh Shekhawat (Jal Shakti Minister), are trying to topple his government. In a veiled reference to ‘rebel’ Congress leader Sachin Pilot, Gehlot said “some very ambitious leaders of our party are also involved in this act”.

The chief minister cited the example of Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh in his letter and said he was not sure if the prime minister had complete knowledge about those developments. 

“I do not know to what extent this is all in your knowledge or if you are being misled. History will never forgive those who participate in such acts. I am convinced that ultimately, along with the truth, healthy democratic traditions and Constitutional values will prevail and our government will give good governance, and will complete the term,” he wrote. 

‘Gross insult to public opinion’

Gehlot said what BJP leaders are doing is against the democratic norms.

“Due to the multi-party system in our Constitution, governments of different parties have been elected in the states and at the Centre”. 

“Attempts have been made to destabilise democratically elected state governments for the past few years, bypassing the sentiments and public interest of the anti-defection law enacted by the Rajiv Gandhi government in 1985 and amendments made by the Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.”

“This is a gross insult to public opinion and an open violation of constitutional values. Events in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh are examples of this. Survival is our top priority in this phase of the Covid-19 epidemic. In such a situation, an attempt is made to demolish the elected government in Rajasthan. Union Minister Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, other BJP leaders and some very ambitious leaders of our party are also involved in this act,” he said in the letter. 

Gehlot further said that one of “these senior leaders like Shri Bhanwar Lal Sharma” had tried to demolish the late Bhairon Singh Shekhawat government (despite being a BJP leader) by buying and selling MLAs.

“The amount had reached many MLAs. I, as the opposition leader, had then reached out to the then Governor Shri Baliram Bhagat and Prime Minister Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao, and opposed it as it is against democratic values to buy and sell, and topple the elected government,” he wrote. 

Gehlot termed such moves a betrayal with the people. 

“… how can the ruling party at the Centre leave the priority of the Covid-19 management and play the main part in the conspiracy to topple the Congress state government,” he asked. 

He further said that in the past, similar allegations were made when the MP government was toppled amid the pandemic and “your party had to face infamy across the country”.