Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday sacked Rajendra Singh Gudha as minister of state in his government, hours after he cornered the state government over law and order and crimes against women in the assembly.
Gudha held charge as Minister of State for Sainik Kalyan (Independent Charge), Home Guard and Civil Defence, Panchayati Raj and Rural Development.
During a debate on the Rajasthan Minimum Guaranteed Income Bill on Friday afternoon, Congress MLAs stormed the well of the House over the Manipur issue. The protest, however, did not go down well with Gudha, who sought accountability from his own government on crimes against women.
“In Rajasthan, it is the truth that we have failed when it comes to women safety. The manner in which crimes against women have increased in Rajasthan, we should introspect rather than (talk on) Manipur.”
This led to Opposition MLAs chanting “Shame! Shame!”. Later, Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore said, “Our Constitution says that when one minister speaks, it means the entire government is speaking. A minister has exposed the government. I would like to congratulate him.”
Rathore later asked Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who is also the home minister, to take responsibility for the “poor” state of law and order in Rajasthan. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti Dhariwal responded to the charges, saying that the state government has supplied the House with the statistics that show that the maximum number of atrocities were committed on women during BJP rule.
In the evening, a statement from Raj Bhawan said, “Today on July 21 evening, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot recommended the expelling of minister of state Rajendra Singh Gudha. Governor Shri (Kalraj) Mishra has accepted this recommendation by Chief Minister Shri Gehlot immediately.”
Following the expulsion, Gudha said that the sacking “didn’t surprise” him.
“This is the price for speaking the truth. I would only like to say that the law and order in Rajasthan is bad … the way they have lodged fake cases (against me). I will tell everything on Monday…”
“Our MLAs were protesting in the well on the Manipur issue and I don’t disagree with them. But how can what’s happening in Rajasthan be right? Aren’t we witnessing it daily?” he said.
Much like Sachin Pilot, Gudha who is considered to be a part of the Sachin camp, has been speaking against the Ashok Gehlot-led government since mid 2022, causing huge embarrassment to the government.
At a Pilot rally in Jaipur this May, he had said, “Rajasthan government’s alignment has gone wrong. Our government has crossed all limits of corruption. In Karnataka, the charge was 40 per cent (commission) but our government here has gone beyond that.”
Gudha, who is among six MLAs who won the 2018 assembly elections on a BSP ticket before defecting to the Congress in September 2019, was inducted as a minister in November 2021. He represents Jhunjhunu’s Udaipurwati constituency.