Jaipur: Former Rajasthan chief minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot on
Saturday said nearly a month has passed since the Pahalgam terror attack, yet the attackers remain at large and there is no official word on any arrests despite repeated assurances from the authorities.
According to Gehlot, public concern is growing as to whether the understanding with Pakistan to halt military action included any clause mandating the handover of terrorists to India.
Gehlot also claimed that while officials have acknowledged that the Pahalgam attack, which claimed 26 lives on April 22, was the result of a “security lapse”, no information has been provided as to who all were held accountable or what action was taken against those responsible for the slip.
“Even after five years, the country still does not know what action was taken against those responsible for the security lapse that led to the Pulwama attack (in 2019), or how hundreds of kgs of RDX reached there,” Gehlot said in a post on X.
On a different note, the veteran leader accused Rajasthan Assembly Speaker (Vasudev Devnani) of taking decisions, which do not stand the test of dignity and impartiality of his post.
“First, he suspended six Congress MLAs. Then, for the first time, he discussed in the House unconfirmed news in the media and made unwanted comments against state Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra in his absence, which was an insult to public mandate,” Gehlot alleged.
“Despite a court sentencing the BJP MLA from Anta (Kanwar Lal Meena) for three years on May 1, his Assembly membership has not been cancelled yet.
“The Supreme Court in the Lily Thomas case gave clear instructions that if an MP or MLA is sentenced for two years (or more), his membership will be cancelled from the day of sentencing,” Gehlot said in a post on X.
He also said that senior Congress leader and MLA Narendra Budhaniya was made the chairman of the Privilege Committee of the House on April 30, but now he has been removed from the post.
“The tenure of the chairman of such committees is generally at least one year. This is probably the first time in the history of the Vidhan Sabha that a chairperson has been changed after just 15 days,” Gehlot said.
Claiming that the decisions taken by the speaker raise questions on his impartiality, Gehlot said, “He should reconsider the decisions and act in accordance with the traditions of the House as per law.”
