The FIR has been registered on the basis of a complaint submitted by Congress leader Surendra Singh Jadawat, who is the chairman of the Rajasthan Heritage Protection and Promotion Authority. Jadawat has stated in the FIR that he has been a follower of Gehlot for a long time and has been influenced by his Gandhian ideology, adding that Shekhawat’s words hurt him.

“The accused Gajendra Singh has committed an offence by insulting the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Mr Ashok Gehlot by addressing him as the Ravan of politics with the intention of defaming his reputation… Gehlot is the chief minister of Rajasthan for the third time and in the entire country, as a chief minister, the respect of Ashok ji Gehlot has been the greatest,” says the complaint, which has been included in the FIR.

At the Jan Akrosh rally in Chittorgarh in April 27, Shekhawat had said, “If you want to end this Ravan of politics Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan mein Rajneeti ke is Ravan Ashok Gehlot ko samapt karna chahte ho…) then raise both your hands, and to establish Ram Rajya in Rajasthan, say Bharat Mata ki Jai.”

“On 27.04.2023, a meeting was organised by a political party Bharatiya Janata Party at a public place Subhash Chowk old bus stand in Chittorgarh in which a large number of persons gathered… The meeting was addressed by the accused Gajendra Singh as the chief speaker, in which in his address from the stage, he committed a serious crime of inciting people by creating religious disharmony in the society from the public platform. There was also support from other leaders present,” says the FIR.

Shekhawat and Gehlot are known to share a frosty relationship over the years. Throughout the last few weeks, the animosity between the two kept rising as Gehlot consistently attacked Shekhawat, accusing him of being involved in the Sanjivani credit cooperative society scam, an allegation that has been denied by the Union minister.

Shekhawat, currently the BJP MP from Jodhpur, is serving his second consecutive term in Parliament from the constituency which was previously represented by Gehlot five times. In 2019, Shekhawat defeated Gehlot’s son Vaibhav to win the seat a second time.

The latest FIR against him is being investigated by the CID-CB department of the Rajasthan Police, which is the nodal branch to probe cases against politicians and public representatives.

The FIR has been registered against Shekhawat under sections including sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 500 (defamation), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace).