Resign if favouritism charges are proved‎ - Ashok Gehlot

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday accused Opposition BJP for making "false" allegations of corruption against him, and said he would not remain in chair "for a second" if charges of favouritism were proven. "If any charge that my family members benefited in any way from our government is proven right, I will not remain Chief Minister for a second," Gehlot said. He said his opposition BJP, when in power in the state, was in a muddle of corruption charges, and it would do better to look into the track record of its own government. Gehlot's first public comments on the issue came at the State Convention of NSUI here, a week after media reports said that the Rajasthan government had awarded contracts to a firm in which his son is employed.
Reacting to the report, former Chief Minister and leader of the Opposition Vasundhara Raje had said that the charges had brought the corrupt nature of the state government out in the public domain. "If a particular company received contracts worth Rs 110 crore during my government, it had received contracts worth Rs 300 crore during the previous government through tenders," he said rubbishing reports that his government favoured the firm where his son works as a legal consultant. "I replied to the charges when they were raised and I am happy that even the media in general did not give much credence to them," Gehlot said. Gehlot said the Raje government was itself facing several charges of corruption. "Their own people have accused them or wrongdoings. It was during their tenure that police fired on protesters during the Gujjar agitation. There has been no such incident during our government, and they do not seem happy about this," he said. "Throughout my political life I have tried to make sure that my family members, my wife and children do not even misuse the official vehicle provided to me," he said. Gehlot had earlier refuted the allegations, but he was speaking on the issue for the first time from a public platform.