Team of 88 Jaipur cops sent to Jaisalmer hotel to guard Congress MLAs loyal to Gehlot

A team of 88 policemen from Jaipur city police including three IPS, nine RPS (state services) officers and 17 inspectors who were sent to Jaisalmer yesterday are looking after the security of the hotel, where the Congress MLAs are staying.

The Congress on Friday shifted legislators loyal to Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot to a luxury hotel near Jaisalmer, alleging that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was attempting to poach its MLAs.

“The team of police officials from the city includes Additional Commissioner of Police Rahul Prakash, deputy commissioner of police, North, Rajeev Pachar, additional deputy commissioners of police Sunita Sharma, Satveer Singh and Rajendra Prasad; assistant commissioners of police Shankar Lal Chaba, Ranveer Singh and Vikram Singh, 17 inspectors and other subordinates have been sent to Jaisalmer,” a top police official said.

The official added that the city police team had been sent to ensure that they along with Jaisalmer and Jodhpur range police ensure that there were no loopholes in the security of the legislators staying in the hotel.

“A 360 degree multi-level security system has been established in the outer and inner periphery of the hotel. Barricading has been done in multiple areas of Jaisalmer especially connecting Bikaner, Barmer, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer,” the official said.

The legislators had been camping in a hotel on the outskirts of Jaipur since July 13 in the aftermath of a rebellion by now-dismissed deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, who has the support of 18 Congress MLAs in the 200-member House.

“The government needs to be saved as you can see the way the Centre and its departments are after us. The pressure will be less there [Jaisalmer]. Most of the ministers and I will stay here and the rest will keep coming. There will be no compromise on governance,” chief minister Gehlot said before boarding his flight to Jaisalmer.

BJP state president Satish Poonia wondered if the Congress MLAs would cross over to Pakistan next. “The CM talks of democracy and the Constitution, but if there is unity, why are the MLAs being shifted? The CM should run the government from the secretariat, and not from hotels,” he said.