Ex-minister offers himself for arrest

BIKANER, DEC 16: Former Rajasthan Irrigation Minister Devi Singh Bhati offered himself for arrest in the case registered against him for as...

BIKANER, DEC 16: Former Rajasthan Irrigation Minister Devi Singh Bhati offered himself for arrest in the case registered against him for assaulting a senior IAS officer, P K Deb, speaking at a huge rally here on Monday. The police chose not to oblige him.

In his continuing crusade against the bureaucracy, Bhati mounted a scathing attack on chief Secretary, M L Mehta, sought action against the IAS officers involved in cases ranging from corruption and misuse of power to copying in examinations. He said the bureaucracy dictated terms in the State to the extent that even senior ministers were feeling helpless. Citing cases at random, he noted that Deputy Chief Minister Hari Shankar Bhabhra was peeved at the attitude of the Collector of Bharatpur, while Local-self Government Minister Bhanwar Lal Sharma was not able to pull on with the Secretary of his department. Revenue Minister, Ganga Ram Chaudhry, according to him, felt that the Chairman of the Revenue Board did not obey him, and Home Minister Kailash Meghwal was told by officers that they will handle the things themselves.

Bhati said that he was prepared to commit harakiri8217; if he was held guilty in any case of corruption and had, therefore, offered to court arrest. He claimed that there was an attempt to hush up the case, but he wanted to state that he did not want this favour. He sought action if he had committed a crime.

Bhati said that it was amazing that a case was lodged and probed against him within four hours, followed by a demand for his resignation, while cases against IAS officers had been pending for years. DIG Madhukar Tandon had not been arrested even in a rape case. He called for an inquiry against M L Mehta with regard to the acquisition of property by him on the Copalpura by-pass at Jaipur. The elected representatives of people, according to him, were accountable for whatever they did, whereas IAS officers had no accountability.

For those skeptical about Bhati8217;s continuation in the BJP there was nothing left to doubt when he called for strengthening of the BJP and described Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat as the most acceptable leader. He reminded people that he had stood by him even when the Janata Dal tried to pull the rug from under his feet during his previous stint as the chief minister.

Though no one, not even Bhati had expected his arrest, today8217;s public meeting, held for this stated objective, was actually Bhati8217;s immediate act in the sustained battle ahead for a survival. Inspector General Law and Order, Namo Narain Meena, who had reached here from Jaipur told The Indian Express that the matter of arrest was outside his purview because the assault case was being handled by the Crime Branch.

In his first major initiative after the Deb episode, Bhati did manage to drive the point home that he could not be written off by just removal from the Ministry. People turned up in large numbers from as far as Jaisalmer on the one side and Manasa, Punjab on the other.