BJP desperate to nail Gehlot govt

Worried over the clean image the chief minister Ashok Gehlot presumably enjoys, the BJP is restrategising its plan to take him head-on.

Worried over the clean image the chief minister Ashok Gehlot presumably enjoys, the BJP is restrategising its plan to take him head-on.

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"Since our assembly elections are more about direct fight between personalities instead of issues, the party is concerned about Gehlot's image, which is seemingly spotless. The party wants to break this perception and has asked some leaders to dig out scams and issues, which could trouble Gehlot," said a senior party leader seeking anonymity.

"There is review of the party strategy to take on the CM and some leaders are working in this direction," confirmed a party executive member, who refused to be named.

The party has suddenly been energized with this idea ever since involvement of Congress ministers and MLAs in various criminal cases have surfaced in the media in the recent past.

The party has often highlighted issues involving Gehlot and his son and even approached the Anti Corruption Bureau, Governor Margaret Alva and President Pranab Mukherjee with complaints of multi crore scams and favouritism in allotting projects in the state. But the party leadership was not satisfied with the way the issues were handled, as all such attempts failed to create an impact.

Somaiya had also charged Gehlot with favouritism in issuing sanctions and approvals for various projects to his own people in "irregular manner". He along with other leaders had approached the Governor seeking an impartial probe into "irregularities in approvals and clearance for construction of 5-star hotel in Udaisagar lake in Udaipur." He had alleged the project was controlled by a family friend of Gehlot in which his son Vaibhav Gehlot was a partner.

However, charges leveled by Somaiya once again made no impact and the party leaders felt the issues were not handled properly.