Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra has alleged special assistants to the state’s Cabinet ministers were defying and spying on them for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s central leadership, leaving them powerless.
“The ministers do not have any say in the Cabinet as the bureaucrats dominate. The special assistants are also not following their orders. Rather, they are spying on them to report to the chief secretary and the party’s leadership in Delhi about their movements and files,” Dotasra said in Jaipur on Tuesday. He added the lack of autonomy is against democracy.
Dotasra said it is an insult to democracy that Cabinet minister Kirodi Lal Meena sent his resignation to chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma but he could not accept or reject it. “Did they even discuss or take suggestions from Meena regarding the agriculture budget?”
Meena, who vowed to step down if the BJP lost any of the seven Lok Sabha seats under his charge, said he resigned on June 5 a day after the poll results were announced citing his “weakening influence in his area”.
Dotasra questioned why was not finance minister Diya Kumari holding meetings. “The chief minister alone has been presiding over all the budget-related meetings. What about the finance minister who will present the budget [on Wednesday]? Was her vision included in the budget? This is going to be a new trend that a person will present the budget while others have prepared it.”
{{/usCountry}}Dotasra questioned why was not finance minister Diya Kumari holding meetings. “The chief minister alone has been presiding over all the budget-related meetings. What about the finance minister who will present the budget [on Wednesday]? Was her vision included in the budget? This is going to be a new trend that a person will present the budget while others have prepared it.”
{{/usCountry}}BJP spokesperson Mukesh Pareek rejected Dotasra’s claims saying Congress leaders make senseless statements. “They only lie to mislead the people.”