Jaipur:Lokesh Sharma, the officer on special duty (OSD) to outgoing Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, fired another verbal attack on Gehlot, asserting that his recent claims about the Congress government’s non-return to power were not new. Sharma alleged that Gehlot’s son, Vaibhav Gehlot, had already expressed similar sentiments, referring to the controversial “red diary” that supposedly contained critical information about the Congress government’s actions.
Sharma’s statements add to the ongoing political turmoil following his accusation that Ashok Gehlot was responsible for Congress’s defeat in the recent Rajasthan assembly polls.
In a post on X, Sharma mentioned, “Ashok Gehlotji’s son Vaibhav Gehlot has already accepted what I said after the election results, according to this viral page of the so-called ‘red diary’ exposed before the elections by Rajendra Gudha, in which he (Vaibhav) said, ‘That is why Papa (Ashok Gehlot) is not able to form the government again and again… This time also, I can give you in writing that the government will lose badly, the reason for this is he. He gets surrounded by the officials in such a way that he dislikes political persons'”.
Sharma defended his statements by stating that he had merely reiterated what Vaibhav Gehlot had already expressed. He had earlier accused Ashok Gehlot of being “responsible” for the Congress’s electoral defeat in Rajasthan.
Sharma also made claims about the Congress government monitoring the movements of Sachin Pilot, another party leader, and alleged that Pilot’s phone was tapped while he was stationed at Manesar with 18 party MLAs in 2020. According to Sharma, this surveillance was done on Ashok Gehlot’s instructions to safeguard the Congress government in the state.
These revelations regarding phone tapping have led to legal troubles for Sharma, facing charges in an ongoing court case related to alleged phone tapping, as accused by Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. Sharma has consistently denied any knowledge of phone tapping, insisting that he only forwarded an audio to the media as OSD to the chief minister.
In the recent Rajasthan Assembly polls, the BJP emerged victorious, securing 115 seats against Congress’s 69 in the 200-member Assembly, paving the way for the BJP to form the government.
