Who Is Pratap Singh Khachariyawas, Whose Jaipur House Is Raided In Rs 48,000 Crore Fraud

Khachariyawas, the nephew of former vice president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, said the ED action was "politically motivated" because he has been speaking against the government.

Pratap Singh Khachariyawas said he had done nothing wrong and that he was "not afraid" of the ED. 

Source : PTI

Rajasthan Congress leader and former minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas's Jaipur residence was raided by the Enforcement Directorate as part of a Rs 48,000-crore Ponzi "fraud"-linked money laundering probe.

Khachariyawas, the nephew of former vice president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, said the ED action was "politically motivated" because he has been speaking against the government.

He asserted he had done nothing wrong and that he was "not afraid" of the ED. 

"The BJP is arrogant. It has been in power at the Centre for 11 years and it is also in power in Rajasthan. I have been speaking against them and therefore they have taken this action, but I am not going to get scared," he said, adding that he will continue raising his voice against the government," he said.

Who Is Pratap Singh Khachariyawas?

Khachariyawas became one of Sachin Pilot's mainstays and was instrumental in organising several protests against the BJP government led by Vasundhara Raje, as per The Indian Express. He was a part of the Gehlot-led Cabinet in 2018 after being elected for the second time and was allotted the transport portfolio.

Khachariyawas won for a second time from Civil Lines.

The minister was active in student politics. In 1992, Khachariyawas won the Rajasthan University Students’ Union elections by defeating the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad’s Satish Poonia, who is the Rajasthan BJP president at present. He was once accused of glorifying the practice of Sati due to his alleged participation in rallies protesting police action in the case of Roop Kanwar who committed sati in 1987. 

Khachariyawas, along with several other politicians, was acquitted of the charge of glorifying sati in 2004.

As per The Indian Express, Khachariyawas mobilised the Rajput community against the government after the encounter of gangster Anandpal Singh in 2017.