Amid "Red Diary" Row In Rajasthan, BJP's "Bofors" Swipe At Congress

A day after sacked Rajasthan Minister, Ram Chandra Gudha, made public three pages of 'red diary' and alleged corruption in the Rajasthan Cricket Association election, Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday termed it as a "Bofors moment" for the state government. 

Former Rajasthan minister Rajendra Gudha, who was sacked from the Cabinet after hitting out at his own government over rising incidents of crime against women, on Wednesday released three pages of a ‘red diary', through which he alleged corruption in the elections of Rajasthan Cricket Association, which is being headed by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's son Vaibhav Gehlot. 

"The 'red diary' is revealing the doings of not just Rajasthan CM but also his son...This is Bofors moment for the Rajasthan government because the allegations are by the government itself..." BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi said while addressing a press conference. 

He said that a black chapter has been added to the misdeeds of the Rajasthan government and that chapter is associated with the red diary.

Asserting that whenever BJP raises allegations against Congress and other Oppositions are not "baseless", Trivedi said, "In 2G (scam), there was a report of Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) and an observation of court. During Bofors, (former Prime Minister) Rajiv Gandhi's minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh levelled the same allegations. Today Rajendra Gudha levelled allegations against its own government led by Ashok Gehlot. So I can say that this is going to be a Bofors moment for the Rajasthan government." 

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Gudha held up the ‘Red Diary' and also read a couple of pages from it saying he will continue revealing more secrets in the coming days.  

Invoking a purported conversation between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, his Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Saubhag Singh and Tourism Development Corporation Chairman Dharmendra Rathore, Gudha said the diary mentions talks on settling accounts of the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA).

On whether he feared being arrested, the former minister said, "Even if I go to jail, there will be new revelations from the diary as it will remain with my close aides. This diary has details of corrupt deals (under CM Gehlot). It holds all the evidence of corruption done by the Ashok Gehlot government. They are planning to file false cases and blackmail me. They are asking me to apologise."

BJP leader Gyan Dev Ahuja came out in support of Gudha, saying, "Rajendra Gudha today disclosed the transaction of Rs 5,000 cr in the red diary. I thank him for this and if he needs my support, I will be there."

Earlier, speaking to ANI, Gudha said CM Gehlot was very tensed about the contents of the ‘Red Diary'.

“The way they (the Congress members) treated me in the Assembly betrays their nervousness. I have never seen anyone so tensed in my whole life. Whatever is written in the book will be out in the public domain,” he said.

Gudha was sacked as minister by CM Gehlot after he flagged the incident of four women being found dead in Jodhpur, saying that the Congress government should look within before criticising the Centre over the Manipur situation.

Later, he was marshalled out of the Rajasthan Assembly after he demonstrated against the Gehlot government, holding up the 'Red Diary'.  

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)