Rajasthan: Congress defends move to sack minister Gudha; BJP says he exposed reality

After Rajasthan minister Rajendra Gudha was sacked from the Ashok Gehlot Cabinet, the BJP and the Congress were engaged in a war of words. While the Congress defended the CM's decision, the BJP said that the sacked minister exposed the reality in the state.

Jaipur (Rajasthan): The Rajasthan Congress defended its Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's move to sack minister Rajendra Gudha from his Cabinet saying that he should have been removed earlier and was given multiple chances, while the Opposition BJP said the former minister paid the price for exposing the reality.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot dismissed Rajendra Gudha, the Minister of State for Sainik Kalyan (Independent Charge), Home Guard and Civil Defence, Panchayati Raj, and Rural Development after he raised questions on the safety of women and the law and order situation in the state. Gudha raised the questions when his colleagues were protesting against Manipur violence in the Assembly.

Rajasthan Congress co-in-charge Amrita Dhawan said, "Rajendra Gudha should have been sacked earlier as the Rajasthan minister.

"His earlier statement on Goddess Sita was not accepted by the party," news agency ANI quoted Amrita Dhawan as saying. "It will not be acceptable if he speaks BJP's language while being part of Congress. He was given multiple chances and should have been sacked earlier..."

BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla said that the Rajasthan CM removed Rajendra Gudha from the state cabinet because he spoke about the plight of women in Rajasthan. "He exposed the reality," quipped Poonawalla.

Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal took a dig at the Rajasthan CM saying ministers were also not "safe" in his government.

Meanwhile, Gudha said that he was punished for speaking the truth. "I speak the truth always, that is who I am. I follow my conscience. I got punished for speaking the truth," Gudha told reporters. "When the government was in a minority, I along with my colleagues worked to save the government," he said.

Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra accepted the recommendation of the Chief Minister with immediate effect. “Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot recommended to Governor Kalraj Mishra to sack Rajendra Singh Gudha, member of the Council of Ministers, in the evening of July 21. The Governor has accepted this recommendation of Chief Minister Gehlot with immediate effect," the Rajasthan Raj Bhawan said in a release.