Congress is readying itself for a large-scale political battle with the ruling BJP in New Delhi while its state leaderships are facing rift after rift. Before the Punjab crisis could end, the urban local body election results have sparked a fresh leadership crisis in Rajasthan.
The disputes which started at the district level have now acquired prominence at the state level as cracks are coming out in the open. Former state minister Vishvendra Singh, a close aide of former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, has launched a sharp attack on the party's state unit chief Govind Singh Dotasara.
In a social media post on X, Singh alleged irregularities in the distribution of tickets in the Bharatpur municipal council and demanded the resignation of Dotasra.
Singh, who belongs to the erstwhile Bharatpur royal family, has also alleged that Dotasra's family members were given benefits in recruitment examinations.
In a separate Facebook post, he added that in the recruitment examinations in 2016 and 2018, Dotasra's daughter-in-law, Pratibha Poonia, his daughter-in-law's brother, Gaurav Poonia, and sister, Pragya Poonia, were all awarded the same 80 marks each in the interview.
Notably, Pratibha was selected in the Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS) in 2016. Pragya and Gaurav were selected through the 2018 examination.
Singh also alleged that Avinash Singh, Dotasra's son, was selected in 2018 through an OBC certificate of non-creamy layer. The children of Ramesh Chand Poonia, who is the father of Dotasra's son-in-law, also got benefits of OBC reservation despite coming from a creamy layer background.
Dotasra was education minister in the Ashok Gehlot government between 2018 and 2021. Singh alleged that under his tenure, large-scale irregularities took place in the Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers (REET).
Singh went on to appeal for a detailed investigation against Dotasra, from the BJP government and CM Bhajanlal Sharma.