Rajasthan minister Ramlal Jat resigns

The Congress government in Rajasthan seems to be passing through turbulence as, after the sacking of Mahipal Maderna from the cabinet over the case of a missing nurse, another minister in Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's team quit Saturday over allegations related to a woman's death. Ramlal Jat, state minister for forest and environment, mines, said: "I have tendered my resignation to Chief Minister Gehlot, and have requested the CM to accept it." Jat recently was involved in a controversy over alleged hastening the post-mortem of a woman who died under mysterious circumstances in Bhilwara district. 

Paras Devi, 34, was the wife of Bhilwara Dairy's president Ratan Lal Choudhary, a close aide of Jat. The Congress legislator from Mandal constituency of Bhilwara district quit following a news report levelling charges against him. Refuting the charges levelled in the newspaper, Jat said that these were "completely baseless" and aimed at damaging his reputation. "I am ready for any kind of investigation by any investigating agency," he said. The post-mortem of the woman was conducted allegedly in the presence of Jat around 2 a.m. Sep 28 in Bhilwara after she died under mysterious circumstances. The post-mortem report stated the cause of death as peripheral circulatory failure, hinting at the possibility of poisoning, a police official said on condition of anonymity. The state government in the last week of September ordered an inquiry into the incident. On the other hand, Maderna was sacked from the cabinet by Gehlot Oct 16 over allegations that he had a role in disappearance of nurse Bhanwari Devi from Jodhpur's Bilara area Sep 1. It was alleged that the nurse had started blackmailing Maderna, the legislator from Osian, on the basis of a CD showing both of them in a compromising position. The case is being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Maderna's questioning by the CBI is likely to continue Monday.