Jaipur/New Delhi:
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is under pressure from the Congress high command to clean the image of his government. He has had three rounds of meetings with Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi, who according to sources has told Mr Gehlot to remove the tainted ministers in his cabinet. According to Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh, "The Congress party will take stern action against anyone who is found guilty or even suspected to be involved in this scandal."
Sources have told NDTV that Mr Gehlot will soon undertake a reshuffle in which the Rajasthan Home Minister Shanti Lal Dhariwal is certain to lose his portfolio.
Mr Dhariwal has come under a lot of criticism after the recent police firing in Bharatpur in which 10 people of a minority community were killed.
The Bhanwari Devi case has also put the Rajasthan government under the scanner. Two Congress leaders, former Water Resources Minister Mahipal Maderna and Luni MLA Malkhan Singh are in the dock for the disappearance of midwife auxiliary nurse Bhanwari Devi. Both are suspected of having illicit relations with Bhanwari Devi and as a result, are being questioned by the CBI.
The CBI has also questioned Leela Maderna, wife of Mahipal Maderna for the second day in a row, as her role in the affair is still unclear. But Mrs Maderna maintains her innocence. "I heard Bhanwari Devi's name for the first time only after the FIR was registered about the missing nurse on the 4th (of this month). I had never even seen her in my life."
Mr Maderna's involvement in the case has already caused huge embarrassment to the Rajasthan government. Mr Gehlot had sacked Mr Maderna from his Cabinet on October 16.