Gajendra Shekhawat has been accused by the Congress of trying to topple its Rajasthan government.
Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who has denied allegations of conspiring with Sachin Pilot's rebel squad to bring down the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan, took a swipe today at the activities of Congress MLAs sequestered at a luxury resort in Jaipur.
"Amid this pandemic, you play antakshari, cook Italian food. Rajasthan is watching," Mr Shekhawat tweeted.
Rajasthan has seen a worrying spike in coronavirus infections with more than 500 cases reported each day. It has close to 30,000 COVID-19 cases. But state Health Minister Raghu Sharma, currently at the resort, said the increase was due to more aggressive testing. Rajasthan's recovery rate is nearly 74 per cent and the doubling rate is 28 days, Mr Sharma told NDTV.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has repeatedly accused the BJP of attempting to dislodge his government in the middle of the coronavirus crisis, much like the Madhya Pradesh power swap when the Congress collapsed after the rebellion of Jyotiraditya Scindia.
Gajendra Shekhawat, one of the BJP's most prominent faces in Rajasthan, has been accused by the Congress of a role in bribing MLAs to turn against the Gehlot government. He was also named in one of two FIRs filed based on an audio tape that emerged online last week.
The Congress has alleged that Mr Shekhawat is heard on the audio discussing bribes with a rebel Congress MLA, Bhanwar Lal Sharma. Mr Shekhawat denies it is his voice, and has rejected Rajasthan police summons to give his statement and voice recording saying the audio tape must be verified first.
His dig at team Gehlot follows a deluge of reports and photos over the weekend from Fairmont, where the Congress MLAs have been staying.
The MLAs have been enjoying movie shows, lessons in pizza and pasta-making, singalongs and board games.