Defending his decision to sack Rajendra Singh Gudha from his cabinet last night, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot today said it was an internal matter of the party.

Gudha was minister of state for home guards and civil defence in the Rajasthan ministry. He was known for bringing the ruling party on the back-foot with his controversial remarks even in the assembly.

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On being asked about the exact reason for the expulsion of Gudha at a press conference, Gehlot said, “This is our Congress party’s internal matter, and on this issue we are discussing at our level.”

When media persons tried to extract more details on the matter, he evaded probing queries saying the meeting was called for the Mahatma Gandhi Minimum Income Guarantee Yojna purpose.

Party in-charge Surjeet Singh Randhawa, who was present on the occasion, told The Statesman that the action against Gudha was related to the party’s discipline.

“He (Gudha) used to make public statements against the government. I think we (the Congress) were late in taking action against him. It is required for the party’s decorum and discipline that no one should make concocted and unscrupulous public statements against his own government and party,” Randhawa, who shared the dais with the chief minister on the successful clearance of the Minimum Income Guarantee Bill, said.

On the other hand, BSP’s state president Bhagwan Baba said that his party won’t give Gudha re-entry into its fold and five other MLAs who won the elections on BSP ticket and joined the Congress. They won’t stand a chance in upcoming assembly polls.

However, during a media interaction on Friday night, Gudha asserted that as a man of word he will always stand for the truth and that he has been ‘punished’ for speaking the truth. “I will continue to speak till the last breath,” he adde.

Rajendra Singh Gudha, while speaking in the assembly yesterday, had drawn a comparison between the plight of Manipur women with the crimes against women in the state saying, “Rajasthaan mein jis tarah se atyaachaar badhe hain mahilaon par, Manipur ki bajaay hamen apne girebaan mein jhaankana chaahie. Sarkar fail ho chuki hai yanhan (The way atrocities on women have increased in Rajasthan, instead of Manipur, we need to introspect on our own failures. The government stands failed on this front).”