Sacked Rajasthan Minister Rajendra Gudha now gets suspended from State Assembly after ruckus

Rajasthan Assembly sees chaos: Sacked Minister Gudha flashes "red diary" of "incriminating material" against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, gets into scuffle with Minister Dhariwal, suspended for session. Gudha shifted loyalty to Pilot, had won on BSP ticket in 2008, appointed Minister of State in 2021.

The Rajasthan Assembly on July 24 witnessed chaotic scenes when sacked Minister Rajendra Gudha flashed a “red diary” of “incriminating material” against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, got into a scuffle with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti Dhariwal, and was marshalled out and later suspended for the remainder of the session for unruly behaviour.

The Chief Minister had dismissed Mr. Gudha as Minister on Friday, hours after he drew parallels between the sexual violence in Manipur and crimes against women in Rajasthan. Having shifted his loyalty to former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot after initially supporting Mr. Gehlot, Mr. Gudha has been criticising his own government on different issues.

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 and supported Mr. Gehlot during the political crisis in 2020 caused by Mr. Pilot’s rebellion. He had won on a BSP ticket in the 2008 Assembly election as well, after which he had defected to Congress and was made the Minister of State for Tourism.

During the present Congress regime, Mr. Gudha was appointed the Minister of State during the Cabinet reshuffle in November 2021. He switched camps in late 2022 and started backing Mr. Pilot, apparently believing that the Congress high command was going to give the latter an important responsibility .

He was booked in an abduction case earlier this year, after which he pointed fingers at Mr. Gehlot, who also holds the Home portfolio.