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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at the premises of Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Govind Singh Dotasra and party candidate from the Mahua assembly seat, Omprakash Hudla on Thursday. The raids were part of a money laundering investigation related to the paper leak case in the state.
The searches were conducted at locations in Sikar and Jaipur associated with Dotasra, along with Hudla's premises in Dausa. Elections for the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly are scheduled for November 25. Former Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) member Babulal Katara and another individual named Anil Kumar Meena were previously arrested by the ED in connection with this case.
The paper leak scandal was uncovered after police investigations found that the question paper of the Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers (REET), which was held on September 26, 2021 were leaked two days before the exams. Police found that the papers were stolen from an office of the state education department. The accused have reportedly received Rs 1.22 crore for the leaked papers.
In March 2022, the Assembly passed a Bill for imprisonment of up to 10 years and a fine of Rs 10 crore for offences such as government exam paper leaks and cheating in such recruitment tests. This year, Rajasthan authorities have further cracked down on the case with the upcoming state Assembly elections.
Rajasthan Assembly has 200 seats, all of which will go into polls on November 25. The counting of votes for Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Mizoram will be done on December 3.
A party requires 101 seats to form the government in Rajasthan. The last elections were held in 2018 when Congress formed the government with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and independent candidates.
