Trouble For Ashok Gehlot? Ex Aide Points To Him In Phone Tapping Case

Lokesh Sharma was officer-on-special-duty and handled Ashok Gehlot's press relations when he was Rajasthan Chief Minister

A former aide's statement to Delhi Police in the Rajasthan phone-tapping case can turn the heat on Congress veteran and former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Lokesh Sharma was officer-on-special-duty and handled Mr Gehlot's press relations when he was Chief Minister. In a seven-page statement, he said Mr Gehlot gave him a pen drive on July 16, 2020, and asked him to leak to the media. This was when a group of Congress MLAs led by Sachin Pilot rebelled against the Ashok Gehlot government, almost bringing it down.

Mr Sharma has said he took the pen drive home, downloaded the contents on his laptop, and then transferred them to his phone. He said that when the recordings went viral, he realised they were clips of tapped conversations between the MLAs who had rebelled and some BJP leaders.

Mr Sharma has said he was only following instructions from his boss.