In response to allegations of paper leak in the state, the Bharatiya Janata Party organised a massive protest against the Ashok Gehlot led Congress Government on June 13 in Jaipur. The police used barriers and water cannons to prevent demonstrators from moving to the secretariat.
In a video posted by ANI, police officials are seen deploying water cannons to disperse protesters. The protest was carried out by the BJP Rajya Sabha MP Kirodi Meena to expose the corruption done by the Congress Government in the state. The protest aimed to draw attention to scams involving Rajasthan’s paper leaks, mines and Jal Jeevan Mission, as well as corrupt actions taken by the state’s Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Shanti Dhariwal.
Before leading the protest march towards the secretariat in Jaipur, Meena spoke to party members at a public meeting. The BJP MP alleged that there was a scam worth Rs 5000 crore in the Department of Information and Technology (DoIT). However, Chief Minister Gehlot refused the permission of the Anti-Corruption Bureau to investigate the scam. Meena stated, “The BJP will expose a mining scam in the days to come. Also, a scam in Jal Jeevan Mission and corruption cases of Urban Development and Housing Minister Shanti Dhariwal will be exposed”.
According to him, for the first time ever in the nation, Rs 2.31 crore in cash and one kilogram of gold was recovered from a government building’s almirah. Following the discovery of the cash and the gold in the almirah in the Yojna Bhawan’s basement last month, a DoIT joint director was arrested.
Before the protest march to the secretariat on concerns of corruption and paper leaks, opposition leader Rajendra Rathore, state-in-charge for the BJP Arun Singh, and other leaders also spoke at the meeting.
Last week, while talking to the media on June 9, Meena stated, “Corruption is rampant under the Gehlot Government. Sixteen competitive exams were held in one year in Rajasthan, and the papers of all of them were leaked. Now, the Enforcement Directorate has come and started investigating, and therefore Gehlot is afraid”. The Enforcement Directorate searched several places in Rajasthan earlier this month in connection with the case involving the exam paper leaks.
Meena accused the involvement of some Congress leaders in the state Public Service Commission (RPSC) paper leak case. He demanded a CBI inquiry into the case. Meena stated, “Six Rajasthan legislators are involved in the paper leak case”. He alleged that Suresh Dhaka, the main accused in the state Public Service Commission (RPSC) paper leak case, leaked the paper offline and online.
Meena said, “Suresh Dhaka is the mastermind of the papers being leaked in Rajasthan, and Suresh Dhaka’s wires are connected to RPSC and Chief Minister’s residence. Dhaka had leaked papers by hacking more than a dozen recruits through his relative. Even at the centre of online examination, they have messed up the papers with their influence”.
Earlier, the Rajasthan Government dismissed Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education Chairman Dharmpal Jarauli for “failing to discharge his duties”. But BJP MP Meena said that the Special Operations Group did not question him regarding his involvement in the scam and even gave him a clean chit. He said CM Gehlot should “take off the cloak of honesty”.
