Jaipur: With his government under fire for the disappearance of Bhanwari Devi, a midwife and nurse, over six weeks ago, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot today dropped controversial minister Mahipal Maderna from his cabinet.
Mr Maderna, the Water Resources Minister, has been accused of kidnapping and murdering Bhanwari Devi. The 36-year-old auxiliary nurse midwife went missing near Jodhpur on September 1. Her husband, Amarchand Nat had alleged that she was abducted at the behest of Mr Maderna and his associates. The minister allegedly had an affair with Bhanwari Devi, proof of which was contained in a CD that showed him caught in a compromising position with her. He, though, had refuted all the charges levelled against him.
But with the Rajasthan High Court making some sharp observations over the shoddy probe into the case and political pressure mounting, the Chief Minister finally met Mr Maderna on Saturday asking him to resign. But when the the latter refused to relent, Mr Gehlot was forced to sack him.
Mr Gehlot is understood to have recommended Mr Maderna's dismissal to the state Governor.
But he remained tightlipped when questioned on the minister's ouster, sticking to a "no comments" stand.
The Gehlot administration's delay in action against the minister seems to have arose from political compulsions. Mr Maderna belongs to the influential Jat community, a major votebank for the Congress. But the party insists that the minister's removal would not dent the party's popularity among the community.
"Congress is a party that has a strong base in all communities and the Jata are very much with our party. This is a criminal case and it will have no effect on any community supporting or opposing our party", Dr Chanderbhan, Rajasthan Congress President said.
The High Court had ordered the police to officially provide an update every alternate day on its attempts to locate Bhanwari Devi.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had, on October 11, taken over the probe and has registered a case in this regard after the Rajasthan government requested the Centre last month to hand it over to the agency.
The Jodhpur police had also received an anonymous letter on October 7 that claims that Bhanwari Devi is alive and is being held hostage by an influential politician in Haryana. Its sender has not disclosed his/her identity but claimed that he/she was "very close" to the people who planned Devi's abduction.
The police had also found the vehicle in which the nurse was allegedly abducted. The Bolero jeep, found near Palanpur in the Banaskantha district of Gujarat bordering Rajasthan, reportedly belongs to Shahabuddin, a key accused in the case and who allegedly executed the conspiracy that led to Bhanwari Devi's disappearance.
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