Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot sacks minister Rajendra Gudha over questioning

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday sacked Rajendra Gudha as minister of state, hours after he cornered the state government in the assembly over law and order.

Gudha held charge as Minister of State for Sainik Kalyan (Independent Charge), Home Guard and Civil Defence, Panchayati Raj and Rural Development.

A Raj Bhavan spokesperson said, "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."

Gudha on Friday questioned his own government's performance in reining in crimes against women, even as his peers slammed the Manipur violence.

During the discussion on the Rajasthan Minimum Income Guaranteed Bill, 2023, in the Assembly, Congress MLAs waved placards on the Manipur violence. The protest, however, did not go down well with Gudha, who sought accountability from his own government on crimes against women.

"The way we have failed to provide security to women in Rajasthan and atrocities on women have increased, instead of raising the issue of Manipur, we should introspect," Gudha said in the assembly.

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 Congress high command, Gehlot sent a recommendation to the governor to sack Gudha.

Following his sacking, Gudha told reporters that he was punished for speaking the truth.

"Rajasthan is at number one position in crimes against women. What did I say? I got the punishment for speaking the truth," he said.

Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned for the second day in a row on Friday following vociferous protests over the Manipur violence by opposition MPs. The Monsoon session started on Thursday, a day after a horrific video of two women being sexually assaulted and paraded by a mob on May 4 in a Manipur village went viral.

Earlier in the day, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat raised the issue of women's safety at a press conference and said Rajasthan has become a "completely failed state" with at least 17-18 rape cases being registered every day.

"As per media reports, every day 17 to 18 cases of rape and 5 to 7 cases of murder are registered in Rajasthan Extortion of businessmen is happening every day. Rajasthan is (in) number one position when it comes to crimes against women, crimes against children and atrocities on Dalits," Shekhawat said at a press conference at the BJP headquarters in Delhi.