Firing a fresh salvo at outgoing Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Lokesh Sharma, his officer on special duty (OSD), claimed that he had not said anything new about the Congress government not returning to power. He referred to a purported ‘red diary’ that Gehlot’s son, Vaibhav Gehlot, had mentioned, which supposedly contained the ‘black deeds’ of the Congress government. Sharma’s statement followed his previous allegation that Gehlot was responsible for Congress’s defeat in the Rajasthan assembly polls.

Sharma stated that Vaibhav Gehlot had already accepted his claims about the government’s inability to return to power, as stated in the viral page of the so-called ‘red diary’. He highlighted Vaibhav’s statement about Gehlot’s dislike for political persons and his inability to form the government again. Sharma emphasized that there was nothing new in his remarks.

In addition, Sharma claimed that the Congress government in Rajasthan was monitoring Sachin Pilot’s movements and tapping his phone while he was stationed in Manesar with 18 party MLAs in 2020. He alleged that this surveillance was done on Gehlot’s instructions to protect the Congress government.

Sharma’s revelations regarding the phone tapping case could land him in further trouble as he is already facing charges in an ongoing court case related to phone tapping allegations made by Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. Sharma has previously denied any knowledge of phone tapping, stating that he only forwarded an audio to the media as OSD to the Chief Minister.

The recent Assembly polls in Rajasthan saw Congress being defeated by the BJP. With 115 seats won by the BJP against 69 for Congress in the 200-member Assembly, the BJP is set to form the government in the state.