Rajasthan CM Gehlot sacks minister hours after he questioned own govt on women safety

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday sacked Rajendra Gudha as minister of state, hours after he criticised the state government on women safety 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. “Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot recommended Governor Kalraj Mishra to dismiss member of council of ministers Rajendra Gudha in the evening. The governor has accepted this recommendation with immediate effect,” PTI quoted a Raj Bhavan spokesperson as saying. Gudha on Friday questioned his own government’s performance in reining in crimes against women, even as his peers slammed the Manipur violence. Following his sacking, he told reporters that he was punished for speaking the truth. “Rajasthan is at number one position in crimes against women. What wrong did I say? I got the punishment for speaking the truth,” he said.  ‘Instead of raising Manipur issue, introspect’ During the discussion on the Rajasthan Minimum Income Guaranteed Bill, 2023, in the Assembly, Congress MLAs waved placards on the Manipur violence. Gudha said in the Assembly, “The way we have failed to provide security to women in Rajasthan and atrocities against women have increased, instead of raising the issue of Manipur, we should introspect.” Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore latched onto Gudha’s statement and slammed the state government, saying Rajasthan tops the chart for crimes against women. Rathore later asked 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. Hours later, after a green signal from the party high command, Gehlot sent a recommendation to the governor to sack Gudha. Meanwhile, the BJP which is Opposition in the state said that the sacking clearly shows that “Gehlot knows that his government will not last long.”

#WATCH | Arun Singh BJP State Incharge Rajasthan in Jaipur on the removal of Rajendra Singh Gudha from the State Cabinet, says, "It clearly shows that Gehlot Ji knows that his government will not last long." pic.twitter.com/NYKcGqRwyw

— ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) July 21, 2023

With inputs from agencies