Amit Shah demands resignation of Ashok Gehlot over 'red diary' controversy

GANGAPUR: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot over the 'red diary' controversy and said it appears that Rajasthan CM is scared of the red diary as it reportedly contains incriminating evidence of corruption committed by the Congress government in the state.

Demanding the resignation of Ashok Gehlot over 'red diary', which allegedly contains details of his financial transactions, Amit Shah said, "Nowadays, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot is very scared of red diary. But why is he scared? Inside the red diary, there are black deeds hidden. The red diary consists of details of the corruption worth crores."

While addressing a public meeting in Gangapur City, Amit Shah said, "BJP govt raised budget for farmers by six times and formed cooperative ministry, Congress did nothing for farmers." Sacked Rajasthan minister Rajendra Singh Gudha, who has claimed that a 'red diary' in his possession had the details of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's "illegal financial transactions" revealed some of its contents.

Gudha, who was sacked from the Cabinet after he hit out at his own government over rising incidents of crime against women, on August 2 released three pages of a ‘Red Diary’ with proof of alleged corrupt practices and wrongdoings of the state Congress.

Gudha held up the ‘Red Diary’ and also read a couple of pages from it saying he would 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). Significantly, CM Gehlot's son Vaibhav Gehlot is the president of RCA. After Gudha's revelation of the Red Diary, the Bharatiya Janata Party termed it a "Bofors moment" for the state government.

"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.

"In 2G (scam), there was a report of the Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) and an observation of the 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," he added. Politics in Rajasthan has intensified as the legislative assembly elections in the state are scheduled to be held later this year.