“Nothing will happen by sacking me. Create a sense of security in sisters and daughters.
There is an atmosphere of anarchy in the state. The home department is with the chief minister who is sitting with a bandage on his feet,” the MLA from Udaipurwati said in Jhunjhunu.
He said that the chief minister is not in control of the state and the government is not able to protect girls and women.
Uproar in assembly
During a discussion on the Rajasthan Minimum Income Guarantee Bill 2023 in the state assembly on July 21, Congress MLAs waved placards on the Manipur violence but Gudha sought accountability from his own government on crimes inflicted 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 had said.
Moments later, Leader of the Opposition Rajendra Rathore got up and slammed the state government saying Rajasthan tops the chart of crimes against women.
Gudha, who held charge as MoS for Sainik Kalyan (Independent Charge), Home Guard and Civil Defence, Panchayati Raj and Rural Development, was sacked hours after his comments in the Assembly.
Congress looking into collusion
Congress in charge for Rajasthan Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said the party will look into whether there was any understanding between Gudha and Rathore.
“One who does not follow the ideology of the Congress has no place in the party and the decision to sack Gudha was a collective decision,” he added.
Randhawa said it had become Gudha’s “habit” to run down the party.
Gudha, who is among six MLAs who won the 2018 assembly elections on a BSP ticket before defecting to the Congress in September 2019, was inducted as a minister in November 2021.
They had supported Gehlot in July 2020 during his tussle with his then deputy Sachin Pilot. However, in the last few months, Gudha has made statements in favour of Pilot.
BJP attacks Gehlot govt
The opposition BJP was quick to target the Congress over the sacking.
Union minister Anurag Thakur alleged that Gehlot kicked out Gudha for expressing concern over crimes against women in the state.
“Will CM Gehlot tender his resignation when his own minister says that the CM has lost his ‘iqbal’ (authority), when in his home district, a woman is murdered and burnt, and when five km away from his residence a woman is raped and left to die?” he asked.
“This is a question for (Congress chief Mallikarjun) Kharge and Gandhi parivaar leaders,” he said and asked if they have “forgotten their responsibility”.
(With inputs from agencies)