JAIPUR: Two heavyweights of Rajasthan politics - CM Ashok Gehlot and Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat - are openly ranged against each other these days. Rajasthan CM Gehlot has fired a fresh salvo at Gajendra Singh Shekhawat by targeting the Z security recently given to the union minister.
Addressing mediapersons in his home district of Jodhpur, CM Gehlot said, “Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has taken Z security from the central government. What was the situation that he was given Z security? If he was in danger from anyone, he should have told us earlier and we would have provided him security. It seems that due to the fear of SOG arrest in the Sanjivani Co-operative case, security has been provided to him.”
On a visit to Jodhpur, CM Gehlot even met the victims of the 953 crores Sanjivani Credit Co-operative scam at the Circuit House on Sunday. While expressing their hardships and pain, the victims of the Sanjivani Co-operative credit scam demanded help from the state government and said that after investing crores of rupees, they have been stumbling door to door for years for their money. The victims alleged that Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat was involved in the matter, after which the Chief Minister assured justice to the victims. After meeting the victims, Gehlot accused Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh of having links with the Sanjeevani Credit Co-operative Society, which had embezzled investors' money.
CM Gehlot said, “He (Shekhawat) should understand the suffering of these victims and give back the lost amount to all these victims.” Gehlot said that Shekhawat is an accused and that he should clarify the situation in this matter. CM said that Shekhawat has taken Z category security only because he is an accused in the scam and he was afraid of being arrested by SOG.
CM Gehlot has often attacked Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on various issues in recent years. Both the prominent leaders come from Jodhpur and in the last Lok Sabha polls, Shekhawat had defeated CM Gehlot’s son and RCA President, Vaibhav Gehlot. In the last few years, CM Gehlot has been persistent in his demand for getting a national status for ERCP which will provide water and benefit a dozen districts of Eastern Rajasthan. CM Gehlot has been nudging the BJP to take up the matter with the PM and as Shekhawat is the Union Jalshakti Minister and also the MP from Jodhpur he has frequently been at the receiving end of Gehlot’s attacks.
Now, with the CM speaking about the Sanjivani matter too, it is clear that these two issues will make Shekhawat politically vulnerable as Gehlot will surely raise these issues regularly in the election year according to political observers.
However, in a sharp response to CM Gehlot's latest attack, Union Minister Shekhawat asserted, "I have also come to know that the CM is making remarks about me. Surely he has some knowledge of Law. If he thinks that those who have some security cover cannot be arrested, then what can I say? I will respond to all his queries when the need arises.
More than 1 lakh people invested crores of rupees in the Sanjivani Credit Co-operative Society, which later grabbed the investors' money. The SOG had registered an FIR in August 2020 on the complaint of the people as a scam of over nine hundred crores was exposed in the investigation. The Society's managing director Vikram Singh has been arrested in the case and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Vikram Singh have been business partners for many years.
Transactions worth lakhs of rupees also came to light from the accounts of Vikram Singh in the bank accounts of Shekhawat and his family members. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat ended his partnership with Vikram Singh before becoming an MP. Clearly, in election year every issue will be used to score political points. And security cover for a Union Minister is now only the latest one as Rajasthan moves towards elections later in the year.