Just a few months away from elections, the last thing that the ruling BJP in Rajasthan wants is a controversy. But the party, busy sprucing up its image these days, was rattled by allegations raised by some of its own MLAs against Ministers.During a recent meeting of legislators, more than 20 BJP MLAs raised corruption charges against Pratapsingh Singhvi, Minister for Forests and Environment. The MLAs accused him of taking bribes for transferring people in his department and requested the Chief Minister to take action against him. Sangsingh Bhatti, MLA from Jaisalmer, was in the forefront, backed by several others.Bhatti also claimed that the higher authorities in the Forest Department had taken bribes, right from peons to District Forest Officers, for giving favourable postings. He alleged that the authorities had deliberately refused to look into the recommendations made by the local MLAs in this regard.Bhatti alleged that the Minister had earlier done the same thing while he was holding the charge of Urban Development. His allegations were supported by complaints made by Ajmer MLA Anita Bhadel and Khetid MLA Dataram Gujjar. They claimed that this was for the first time in four years that money had changed hands for seeking transfers.Meanwhile, reports suggest that Chief Minister Raje was not too happy about the way the MLAs had raked up the issue at the party meeting. According to sources, she felt that they should have contacted her personally instead of raking up it in public. Raje was particularly upset about the number of complaints she received against her ministers.The MLAs also claimed that many ministers were not in the habit of lending their ear to the complaints and grievances raised by them, making it difficult to serve their constituency better. On the other hand, though the Chief Minister did not make a formal announcement, the CMO is believed to have launched a preliminary inquiry into allegations of corruption. Sources confirmed that details of the number of transfer orders issued in the past one year, along with details on how many of them were made following recommendations by the MLAs, have been demanded from the department. Besides, the transfer orders issued in the past two months are expected to be revoked.
