Power Is Centralized In Rajasthan, Says State Minister Rajendra Gudha

Rajasthan minister Rajendra Gudha, now considered close to former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, on Monday said power is centralized in the state and one has to go to the chief minister's office even for the transfer of a constable.

Gudha, the minister of state for soldiers' welfare, made the remarks while reacting to the point made recently by food and civil supplies minister Pratap Singh Khachariawas that ministers should have the right to write annual confidential reports (ACR) of IAS officers.  

Gudha, one of the six BSP-turned-Congress MLAs, was in Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's camp but he switched sides in September and gave statements in support of making Pilot the next chief minister when Gehlot was in the race for Congress president. 

“The question (about writing ACR of IAS officers) was raised by Pratap Singh Khachariawas and since then there has been a discussion on this matter. To the best of my knowledge, power is completely centralized in Rajasthan,” Gudha told reporters here.

He said that the one who appoints the DGP also transfers a constable in the state.

“For the transfer of a constable too, one has to go to the chief minister's office,” he said, adding that power should be decentralized.

Recently, Khachariawas said that the right to write ACR of IAS officers should be with ministers to keep the bureaucracy under control. Public health engineering department (PHED) minister Mahesh Joshi reacted to this and defended CM Gehlot, following which Khachariawas suggested that he was a slave of the CM.

However, after Joshi raised strong objections over the language and the term Khachariawas used for him, the latter withdrew his remarks saying the relation between him and Joshi is cordial and he should not have said so.

(Inputs from PI)