JAIPUR: Rajendra Singh Gudha, who was sacked from the Rajasthan cabinet on Friday by the Ashok Gehlot government following his statement regarding women’s safety in the state, late Friday night 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,” Rajendra Singh Gudha said while speaking to reporters after he was removed from the Rajasthan cabinet. “The sisters and daughters of Udaipurwati Assembly constituency who have helped me win the elections, trusted me so that I can respect and protect them. But the way in which newspapers today are flooded with incidents of sexual harassment incidents on our sisters and mothers shows that Rajasthan is number one in atrocities against women,” he added.
Rajendra Singh Gudha said that even during the BJP rule in the state, the Congress which was then in opposition had raised their voice against abduction of children. “We had protested against abduction of girl child during BJP rule in the state. People had elected us with the hope that we can do something good for women, against unemployment and corruption by sitting in the biggest panchayat of Rajasthan,” he said.
Condemning the incident in Manipur, he added that the Rajasthan state government should look within themselves as well. “The manner in which the incident happened in Manipur is shameful and should be condemned. But I had said that we should look into ourselves as well,” he said. The former Minister expressed alarm at how the government will seek votes from the public after four months when the state assembly elections will be held if these issues are not addressed.
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“After 4 months, we will go to the public to seek votes. How will we face them then? All these things will concern us. I just said that these things need to be fixed,” he said. Speaking about paper leak in the state he said, “Our youth are dying by suicide. I can give the figures in my constituency. 30 youths have committed suicide in the last two months. They are suffering from unemployment. They give exams everyday but their papers are out. The youths are living in desperation and we are unable to do anything for them.”
Earlier on Friday, Gudha had criticised his own government over recent incidents of crimes against women in the state. Speaking in the assembly, Gudha, the Congress leader said that it should be accepted that the state government “failed” in women’s safety. “It is true and should be accepted that we have failed in women’s safety. Instead of Manipur, we should look within ourselves why atrocities on women have increased in Rajasthan,” Gudha said.
The recent incident, in which the body of a 19-year-old girl was recovered from a well in which she was dumped after being allegedly raped and murdered had created a furore in the State Assembly. Rajasthan government on Friday sacked its minister of state Rajendra Singh Gudha. According to the Governor’s House, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot recommended to Governor Kalraj Mishra to remove the minister.
The Governor accepted the recommendation of the Chief Minister with immediate effect. “Chief Minister Shri Ashok Gehlot recommended to Governor Kalraj Mishra to sack the Minister of State 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,” stated the Governor House. In the official statement, no reason for Gudha’s termination was mentioned in the order.
BJP MP Rajyavardhan Rathore came down heavily on the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan for removing Rajendra Singh Gudha from the state cabinet, saying that the “Congress cannot tolerate truth”. “He was removed from the state cabinet because Congress cannot tolerate truth, this truth was muffled by the state government for a long time,” Rajyavardhan Rathore told ANI. Rathore said that Rajasthan Minister Rajendra Singh Gudha spoke the truth when he said that the state government needs to look into the crimes happening in its own state.
“A Rajasthan Minister spoke truth inside the Assembly House, he said that the state government must look into the crimes happening in its own state instead of criticising incidents of other states. For the last three years, Rajasthan is number one for crimes against women. This is the truth,” he said. Slamming the Ashok Gehlot government, Rathore said, “Minister Gudha is right in saying that in Manipur a video surfaced, whereas here, sisters and daughters get raped every day. Is Ashok Gehlot waiting for any video to surface?”
