An MLA of Rajasthan’s Bharatiya Tribal Party on Tuesday alleged that he and his party colleague were being held hostage by the police amid the political crisis in the state, ANI reported. The BTP, which has two MLAs in the Rajasthan Assembly, has asked its legislators to remain neutral and not align either with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot or sacked rebel leader Sachin Pilot, according to PTI.

Rajkumar Roat, the MLA from Chorasi, in a video accused the police of misbehaving with him. “The situation right now...it is almost as if we are hostages,” Roat is heard saying. “For three days we were in the MLA quarters [in Jaipur]. Many said come with us, come with us. Today, three to four police cars followed me when I went out to the constituency.”

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He added that the police vehicles surrounded his car and his keys were taken away from him. “The police are on both sides,” the legislator said. “This is misbehaviour.”

A second video on social media showed the police taking away the keys when Roat was in the car with his party MLA Ram Prasad. “It is too hot,” Roat says. “How long can we sit here? We can hardly run away, you can drive ahead of us, we will follow you...”

Meanwhile, a constable told the legislators that “there is a threat”. During last month’s Rajya Sabha election, both Raot and Prasad had voted for Congress candidates. The Congress has counted both of them as supporters of the Ashok Gehlot government.

Earlier in the day, the Congress sacked Pilot as the deputy chief minister of Rajasthan as well as the state president. Party leaders accused him of colluding with the BJP in its conspiracy to topple the state government. Two ministers, Vishvendra Singh and Ramesh Meena, were also dropped from the Rajasthan Cabinet. Minister of State for Education Govind Singh Dotasra will be the Congress Rajasthan chief.