Jaipur, Feb 13 (PTI) Rajasthan does not have a tradition of illegal phone tapping and if the BJP government tapped the phone of its minister Kirodi Lal Meena without taking due permissions then it constitutes a crime, Congress leader Ashok Gehlot said on Thursday.

Gehlot, who was the chief minister of the previous Congress government in the state, urged CM Bhajanlal Sharma to clarify the issue inside the assembly like he had done when allegations of phone tapping were raised under his tenure.

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This comes a day after Congress leader Sachin Pilot targeted the BJP government over the issue but also said any such incident "now or before" should be transparently investigated -- a veiled reference to the phone-tapping controversy during the Ashok Gehlot government.

Rajasthan Agriculture Minister Kirodi Lal Meena made an allegation in a public meeting recently that his phone calls were being tapped.

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Gehlot told reporters here on Thursday, "In this case (linked to Kirodi Lal Meena) if phones were tapped then the government has committed a crime. Who will clarify? We cannot do it. Minister (of State for Home) Jawahar Singh Bedham has given a statement outside the House. Why is he not speaking in the House? The chief minister should also give a reply."

The former CM said allegations of phone tapping were raised during his tenure also and he had clarified inside the House that phone calls of MPs and MLAs were not tapped and it would never happen.

"CM Bhajanlal Sharma who is the leader of the House and also the home minister of the state could not show the same gesture that I did. Why did he not clarify that the phone was not tapped (in the House)? It would have stopped the issue of Kirodi Meena there itself," Gehlot said.

In July 2020, a phone-tapping controversy erupted when the Ashok Gehlot government was accused of tapping the phones of MLAs close to Pilot. It happened amid a rebellion within the party by Pilot, who was then the deputy CM, and 18 other Congress leaders against Gehlot's leadership.

Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra said CM Sharma gave a two-hour long speech in the assembly but did not speak a word on the phone tapping allegations.

"This is because the CM can only speak and work after getting slips from New Delhi. He cannot speak a word on his own. Now, every kid knows that the government runs based on these slips," Dotasra said.

Dotasra said it has now become a trend that any MLA who criticises the government is threatened by investigating agencies like ED, CBI or the IT department.

Congress will not allow corruption just because of these threats by the government, he said.

Dotasra said Meena has alleged Rs 7 crore illegal sand mining happens every day. The minister raised the issue of phone tapping and inaction in the SI recruitment exam case, the Congress leader said, suggesting that he was being targeted by the government for his position on these issues.

"And now when the Opposition is asking for a reply, they are being threatened by the agencies. We do not fear anyone. We will continue to raise all issues related to common people." he said.

On Monday, the state BJP unit sent Meena a show cause notice over his allegations, saying his comments "tarnished" the government's reputation.

Meena said on Wednesday that he has responded to the show cause notice. While he did not disclose the content of his reply, Meena acknowledged a "mistake" mentioned in the show cause notice sent on Monday.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)