Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday dismissed Minister of State for Soldiers’ Welfare Rajendra Gudha, hours after his remarks in the State Assembly, drawing parallels between the sexual violence in Manipur and the alleged atrocities against women in Rajasthan. Mr. Gudha, considered a loyalist of former Deputy CM Sachin Pilot, has been criticising his own government on different issues.
Mr. Gudha said during the debate on the Bill on minimum guaranteed income that the Congress government should pay attention to providing security to women in the State in view of atrocities against them having increased. “Instead of raising the issue of Manipur, we should introspect about our own performance,” he said.
A communique from Raj Bhavan on Friday night said that Governor Kalraj Mishra had accepted a recommendation of Mr. Gehlot to dismiss Mr. Gudha with immediate effect. Mr. Gudha held the charge as Minister of State for Soldiers’ Welfare (independent), Home Guard and Civil Defence, and Panchayati Raj and Rural Development.
Elected from Jhunjhunu district’s Udaipurwati constituency in 2018, Mr. Gudha was among the six Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLAs who had merged with the ruling Congress in 2019. The six legislators supported Mr. Gehlot during the political crisis in 2020 caused by Mr. Pilot’s rebellion and voted for the Congress candidates in the Rajya Sabha elections held in June 2022.
Mr. Gudha was appointed the Minister of State during the Cabinet reshuffle in November 2021, while three other turncoats were accommodated in different Boards and Commissions. The remaining two were appointed as heads of other State bodies in August 2022.
Mr. Gudha had several times spoken against the State government on the administrative issues and the corruption allegedly rampant in the official machinery. On the conclusion of Mr. Pilot’s Jan Sangharsh Yatra from Ajmer to Jaipur in May this year, Mr. Gudha addressed the rally and said some senior Congress leaders had broken all records of corruption, which would affect the party’s prospects in the upcoming Assembly election.
