Phone tapping controversy creates internal strife in Rajasthan Congress again; High command struggle to tame Sachin pilot 

​​​JAIPUR: Internal problems are again haunting Rajasthan Congress. The Sachin pilot camp has raised the new allegation that the MLAs are being observed and their phones are being tapped. Whereas the chief whip in Rajasthan Congress Mahesh Joshi has said that such allegations are baseless.

"I do not know if my phone is being tapped or not. Some legislators have told me that their phones are being tapped. I am also not aware of the state government is involved in phone tapping. Many officials told them (legislators) that it seems that there are efforts underway to trap them," Sachin pilot confidante and MLA Ved Prakash Solanki said.

Solanki added that some MLAs have informed the Chief Minister about the matter.

In July last year, Pilot and 18 Congress legislators had rebelled against Gehlot. One of the accusations they levelled was about illegal phone tapping. The charges gained ground when some audio clips of telephonic conversations were shared by Gehlot’s officer on special duty (OSD) Lokesh Sharma. The audio clips were later handed over to Rajasthan Police’s special operations group (SOG) to investigate charges that some legislators were trying to topple an elected government through horse-trading. The SOG ultimately closed the case after the Congress high command intervened to resolve the issues between Gehlot and Pilot.

Earlier this week, a group of Congress MLAs met Sachin Pilot and expressed support for the dissident leader as trouble brewed again in the party.

Notably, an All India Congress Committee (AICC) panel formed last year to sort out differences between Gehlot and the Pilot camp is yet to come up with a solution. Pilot was sacked as the deputy CM and the state’s Congress chief after his rebellion last year.