‘Will continue to speak up until my heart stops beating,’ says Rajasthan minister sacked for comments on women’s safety

“Public will stay with me, I will work for them. Whether he (Ashok Gehlot) removes me from the cabinet or sends me to jail, I will keep speaking until I am alive,” the former minister of state told ANI. He also claimed that he will demand an answer from CM Gehlot “one-to-one” in the Vidhan Sabha.

Slamming the Gehlot-led government, Gudha said, “I wanted to ask Ashok Gehlot to do something on this issue… Police in the state are corrupt, they are busy taking bribes from people on a monthly basis.” His other allegations against the Rajasthan police included their involvement in the sale of alcohol across the state and bribery in registering FIRs.

#WATCH | After being removed from the Rajasthan cabinet, Rajendra Singh Gudha says “Public will stay with me, I will work for them. Whether he (Ashok Gehlot) removes me from the cabinet or sends me to jail, I will keep speaking until I am alive. Women in our state are not safe.… pic.twitter.com/ZMkSjbJO7E

— ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) July 22, 2023

On Friday, Gehlot fired Gudha as a minister of state in his government, hours after the former Minister of State criticised the state government  in the Assembly over crimes against women saying that the government should introspect rather than talk about Manipur.

Gudha held charge as Minister of State for Sainik Kalyan (Independent Charge), Home Guard and Civil Defence, Panchayati Raj and Rural Development.

During a House debate on the Rajasthan Minimum Guaranteed Income Bill in the afternoon, as Congress MLAs stormed the well over the Manipur issue and raised placards, Gudha got up and said: “In Rajasthan, it is the truth that we have failed when it comes to women safety. The manner in which crimes against women have increased in Rajasthan, we should introspect rather than (talk on) Manipur.”

Following the removal, 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.

In another attack on the Rajasthan government, Rathore questioned the Congress party on whether issues of women’s safety is not as important as protecting the party line.