Gehlot seeks probe into all Rajasthan govt recruitments over 11 years

Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday renewed his attack on the BJP-led state government over alleged tampering of OMR sheets in recruitment examinations.

He accused the government of indulging in politics instead of rectifying the system and doing justice to youths.

Gehlot demanded a comprehensive probe into all recruitments conducted over the past 11 years.

"We demand an inquiry into all recruitments from the time this game started about 11 years ago, including the Congress tenure, up to 2026, to ensure justice for youths," he said in a statement.

Terming Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma's remarks "misleading and laughable", Gehlot said it was wrong to suggest that those arrested in the Rajasthan Staff Selection Board (RSSB) paper leak case were involved in the malpractice only during the Congress regime.

If a person was involved in changing OMR sheets in 2019 and remained on the same post till 2026, is it possible that he stopped committing the crime during the BJP government's tenure in 2024-25, he questioned.

Gehlot alleged that by giving his tenure a "clean chit" even before the investigation was complete, the chief minister was putting pressure on the Special Operations Group (SOG) to not look into files related to the recruitment procedure after the BJP assumed power.

Citing the SOG's findings that OMR manipulation had been going on for 11 years, he said, "The SOG is a branch of the state police. The government should take its findings seriously."  He also cited a recent incident in Shergarh sub-division of Jodhpur, where dozens of Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers (REET-2025) admit cards were found lying on a road, although there were no examination centre within a 100-km radius.

"This too needs investigation to find out how they reached there and whether any unfair practice was involved," he said.

Reiterating his charge, Gehlot said, "It appears that the BJP government's objective is not to fix the system and give justice to youths, but only to do politics."  The former chief minister said his government had taken strict action whenever irregularities were found, instead of blaming previous regimes.

"We sent more than 265 people including an RPSC member to jail, enacted the toughest law and demolished the properties of mafias," he said, adding that the current government should not hesitate to order a fair probe into its own tenure.

The Congress leader also raised the issue of an alleged land grabbing involving a tribal family in Bhuvana area of Udaipur, claiming there was a conspiracy to usurp land worth Rs 25 crore by illegally detaining the family. Sharing a media report, he alleged that the police had accused the victims instead, calling it an "extreme misuse of influence".

Gehlot claimed that the role of BJP MLA Pushpendra Singh and Hemant Sharma, who allegedly projects himself as a relative of the chief minister, was under suspicion in the case.

"The special posting of a deputy SP from Bali to Udaipur for this case and the Sukher SHO's defiance of court orders clearly show an unholy nexus between the police and the ruling establishment to protect land mafias," he alleged.

Questioning the government, Gehlot asked whether the state police had turned into a "private force of influential people", alleging that despite reports of corruption against several officers, no action had been taken, making the system increasingly authoritarian.

He demanded a fair investigation into the entire matter and immediate action against the MLA and police officials involved.