NEW DELHI: The Lal Diary, that has triggered a storm in Rajasthan’s political landscape, has unmasked a sly request, allegedly made by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, to a female journalist Aditi Nagar to keep a watchful eye on his intra-party adversary and senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot with the intention of “exposing” him.
Nagar has denied any such claims mentioned by Gehlot’s advisor Dharmendra Rathore, in his Red Diary. The diary’s notes have been flashed by several BJP leaders including home Minister Amit Shah, BJP President J P Nadda and senior party leaders including Gajendra Shekhawat.
The diary, quoting Rathore states, “I was asked by the CM to make powerful arrangements so that they could obtain the entire recording of Sachin Pilot when he takes such actions. The CM also instructed me to ask Aditi to keep an eye on Sachin Pilot and to pay attention whenever Pilot goes to Delhi.”
Rathore served as a State Minister (2008-13) and Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation (2022-23), under the Gehlot government. He was denied a ticket by the Congress after several BJP leaders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the Red Diary reveals several Congress ‘dark secrets’.
When approached for comment, Aditi Nagar refuted the claims, dismissing them as a fictitious account. “Totally false and baseless! Pilot is a senior leader, and I have all respect and regards for him,” she told The New Indian.
According to the diary, the supposed planning meetings occurred at a flat in Gurugram and a farmhouse in Mehrauli owned by an individual named Danish Abrar. Two individuals, Jagdish Kalia and Dheeraj Gurjar, were said to have supported this information. According to the diary, the planning on Pilot allegedly occured.
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Rathore reportedly discussed this information with Gehlot to formulate their next steps. Allegedly, Gehlot instructed Rathore to arrange for recordings of these meetings and directed him to task Nagar with closely monitoring Sachin Pilot.
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Chandra, who had enjoyed close ties with the then Congress leadership in Rajasthan before making similar overtures with the Bharatiya Janata Party, earning himself the sobriquet ‘Kaatil’.
Bharat 24 is led by Chief Executive Officer and former ETV News lead Dr Jagdeesh Chandra, who, according to the channel’s credo claims to be a bridge between the people and the government. To put matters into perspective, Chandra had been vying for a berth during the 2014 General Elections with the Bharatiya Janata Party during its first landslide victory.
Chandra had taken retirement from the Indian Administration Services in 2008. Following which, he took over the ETV group as its CEO, with 15 regional TV news channels under his control.
Congress sources have said that India First News, another news channel owned by him, is filled with content celebrating Gehlot, the Grand Old Party and Rahul Gandhi.
Rajendra Gudha, a former Rajasthan minister and Congress MLA, alleged that he obtained the diary from the residence of Congress leader Dharmendra Rathore during an IT raid in July 2020, supposedly on Ashok Gehlot’s direction.
In response to the allegations, Ashok Gehlot dismissed the Red Diary as a collection of lies, further deepening the political intrigue surrounding the unfolding events in Rajasthan.
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