A day after the Congress demanded Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat step down for allegedly conspiring to topple the Rajasthan government, the minister has hit back.
Speaking to news agency ANI on Monday, Shekhawat, who is Union minister for Jal Shakti, declared he wanted the Rajasthan government to verify the authenticity of the audio clips, which purportedly include him engaged in negotiations to get Congress MLAs to cross over.
"With whose permission was it [audio clips] recorded? Who recorded it? First, they should come out with authenticity. I've already said that my doors are always open for any kind of inquiry," Shekhawat declared.
Earlier in the day, Shekhawat received a notice from the Rajasthan Police's Special Operations Group to appear before it to record his statement. Shekhawat had been named in a FIR filed over the alleged political conspiracy last week.
Shekhawat said on Monday that the Rajasthan Police wanted to "record my statement and voice sample".
In an interview with The Times of India, Shekhawat reiterated his allegation the audio clips were fake. "The source of the recording is unverifiable. The case is being built against me only to bully and instil fear in the minds of Congress MLAs held at the Fairmont Hotel in Jaipur by Gehlot to thwart a potential rebellion. There is no probe by the Rajasthan government regarding how and where that audio originated on social media or who recorded it," Shekhawat said.
On Saturday, the BJP demanded a CBI probe into the phone tapping that led to the recording of the audio clips.
