Jaipur: The controversial ‘red diary’ has taken the state Rajasthan by storm with everyone curious to know what details the ‘diary’ carries.
The sacked Congress minister Rajendra Gudha is at the centre of the controversy who said he is in possession of a ‘red diary’ which he alleges carry murky deals of the Ashok Gehlot government.
Gudha said that he got the diary from veteran leader Dharmendra Rathore residence following a ‘special request’ by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot after the central investigating agencies — IT and ED — teams were conducting raid in Rajasthan.
Gudha has claimed that the ‘diary’ carries all those ‘secrets’ which can create troubles for the Gehlot govt.
After the Congress minister was dropped from the Ashok Gehlot cabinet he had announced that he will spill the beans about the alleged ‘red diary’. After Gudha reached the Legislative Assembly on Monday morning, there was a lot of ruckus. First, he was not allowed to enter the assembly, but when he reached entered the house, he showed the ‘diary’ to the speaker.
As he started waving the ‘diary’, the Speaker C.P Joshi ordered marshals to take Gudha out of the house.
After being marshaled out, Gudha accused the ministers of beating him.
“The diary was in my possession, they beat me and took away the diary. I was attacked by 25-50 people. They ruthless beat me,” Gudha told media men outside the assembly.
He said that they were not marshals but Congress ministers who dragged him out.
“Gehlot Sahab, you did snatch half of the diary from me via hooliganism however I still have more. Inside this part is a record of all your transactions that you have given to the legislators.
“It has all records of black money which you gave to MLAs during the Rajya Sabha elections. I will reveal to whom you gave money,” he said.
Gudha also had a tussle with state minister Shanti Dhariwal after he attempted to snatch his mike. There was a scuffle between the two but MLA Rafiq Khan intervened. Soon after, the Speaker adjourned the proceedings of the House.
After the house was adjourned, Gudha told reporters gathered outside the Assembly building that he wanted to talk about ‘red diary’ which the Speaker did not allow.
“Shanti Dhariwal stood to speak and I went to him and told him that I want to give a statement but Congress MLAs pushed me to the ground and overpowered me. Some of them including Shanti Dhariwal kicked me and snatched the diary from me. However, some part of the diary is still with me,” he said.
Gudha said that he will reveal the ‘secrets’ of the ‘red diary’ to the people on Tuesday.
On Sunday, Gudha also claimed that he had saved Rajasthan Chief Minister Gehlot from trouble but was removed without being given an opportunity to explain himself.
“Had I not been there, the Chief Minister would have been in jail,” he claimed.
Before the House started in the morning, Gudha told reporters that he would read out ‘red diary’ inside the assembly.
A communique from Raj Bhavan on Friday night said that Governor Kalraj Mishra had accepted a recommendation of Gehlot to dismiss Gudha with immediate effect.
Gudha held the charge as Minister of State for Soldiers’ Welfare (independent), Home Guard and Civil Defence, and Panchayati Raj and Rural Development.
Gudha had said during the debate on the Bill on minimum guaranteed income that the Congress government should pay attention to provide security to women in Rajasthan. “Instead of raising the issue of Manipur, we should introspect on our own performance,” he said. Soon after, he was sacked from the Gehlot cabinet.
Elected from Jhunjhunu district’s Udaipurwati constituency in 2018, Gudha was among the six Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLAs who had merged with the ruling Congress in 2019. The six legislators supported Gehlot during the political crisis in 2020 caused by Pilot’s rebellion and voted for the Congress candidates in the Rajya Sabha elections held in June 2022.
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.
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 Sachin Pilot’s Jan Sangharsh Yatra from Ajmer to Jaipur in May this year, 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.
Gudha in fact had been a turncoat, he contested from BSP ticket, then joined Congress and supported Ashok Gehlot, later joined Sachin pilot camp and off recently, he had met Owaisi and after his meeting, he openly said that “We had an elaborate discussion on politics. If two politicians meet, they will not discuss weather but will definitely speak on politics.”
He is a Rajput leader and has been a mass leader in Udaipurwati. Karni Sena in fact protested his sacking and even burnt Gehlot’s effigy.
Meanwhile, Bahujan Samaj Party’s state president Bhagwan Singh Baba on Saturday made it clear that his party will not take him back or give an election ticket to him for the upcoming assembly polls in Rajasthan.
Baba said Gudha had betrayed the party twice, once in 2008 and then in 2019 by joining the Congress.
Baba said that as per party chief Mayawati’s directions, election tickets will not be given to any of the six BSP MLAs who defected to Congress in 2019. Gudha, who was the Minister of State (MoS) in-charge of Sainik Kalyan, Home Guard And Civil Defence, Panchayati Raj & Rural Development had criticised his own government over the crimes against women in the state.
“We will not take him (Gudha) under any circumstances. BSP gave him an election ticket in 2008 as well. However, the Congress bought all our six MLAs, luring them with posts and money. In 2013, Gudha contested on Congress ticket and lost the election. Later, when he realised his mistake and requested the party to take him back, the party gave him a ticket again (for the assembly elections in 2018). But he betrayed the party again.”
In 2008, Gudha, who won the Udaipurwati seat on a BSP ticket, defected to the Congress, along with five other BSP MLAs. He was made the Minister of State (MoS) for Tourism by Gehlot, who was Chief Minister then. However, in 2013, he lost the Udaipurwati seat on a Congress ticket. He won the seat back on a BSP ticket in 2018 and defected to the Congress, along with five other BSP MLAs, in 2019.
–IANS