Bhanwari fire burns; urgent meeting called to douse flare-up

Jaipur, Nov 15: With the case of the missing nurse Bhanwari Devi haunting the Rajasthan government, CM Ashok Gehlot is facing immense pressure to step down from his post. With the row all set to topple the state govt, the CM has called an emergency meeting to ascertain on how best to douse the controversy before it rages to something massive.

Reports suggest that today's (Nov 15) meeting will be attended by all 16 cabinet ministers and 11 ministers of state at 11am. With normal cabinet meetings scheduled for Wednesday, the meet was preponed considering the politically volatile situation prevailing in the state. There is also much speculation on a major reshuffle in the Cabinet.

The Congress high command is looking into ways by which they can salvage the situation. There are voices forcing the CM to step down. One of the main accused in the case, former Water Resources Minister Mahipal Maderna was sacked from the govt after his name surfaced in the Bhanwari Devi case. A CD has been doing the rounds that showed Bhanwari and Maderna in a compromising position. The fast that Bhanwari is a Dalit is also working against the Cong govt.

The Gehlot government have had to face many setbacks recently other than the Bhanwari Devi case. The recent police firing on Meo Muslims, which is considered the traditional Cong vote bank in Gopalgarh has also weighted heavily for the party. Coupled with the fact that Minister Shanti Dhariwal did not handle the matter well has also added insult to injury.

Now the Gehlot government wants to lessen the damages and through the cabinet reshuffle wants to present a clean image that was considerably tarnished due to the recent accusations.

OneIndia News