Jaipur:
The Ashok Gehlot government has been left reeling from a double whammy. The government which was already in the dock over last week's police firing in Bharatpur's Gopalgarh town that left nine people dead, is now having to deal with alleged involvement of its Water Resources Minister Mahipal Maderna in a disappearance case of a midwife in Jodhpur. The minister was said to be having an illicit relationship with the woman.
The problems for Gehlot and his government is furthered by the fact that the Congress high command is said to be deeply upset with both incidents, especially with the group clashes in Bharatpur. Experts say Bharatpur borders UP and could have a major fallout for the party in the upcoming UP elections. What makes things worse in this case for the government is that most victims were Meos - a crucial votebank for the Congress. The perceived lax police handling of the incident has put the Gehlot government in the dock.
To minimize the damage the Chief Minister visited Bharatpur today and called for ''harmony and brotherhood.'' But pressure on him to make his ministers resign is mounting rapidly. Gehlot is hard pressed to defend Maderna and his Home Minister Shanti Dhariwal, who had defended police firing in Bharatpur.
Besides the Bharatpur tensions the case of the missing midwife Bhanwri Devi in Jodhpur is becoming a huge headache for Gehlot. His Water Resources Minister Mahipal Maderna is said to have been allegedly caught in a compromising position with the midwife on CD. And now on her husband's plea, a lower court has ordered the police to probe charges of rape and murder against Maderna. And handing over the case to the CBI has not satisfied everyone.
The government's current plight is music to the Opposition BJP's ears. Arun Chaturvedi, BJP president in Rajasthan says, ''The government has no answer ...they are just getting rid of the responsibility by handing over the case to CBI. The Chief Minister must give us an answer.''