Gehlot plays down upset minister's tweet, says should not be taken seriously

A day after the Rajasthan sports minister asked to be relieved from his post over the conduct of the CMs principal secretary, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday said Ashok Chandnas tweet should not be taken seriously as he might be under pressure due to workload.In the evening, the minister met Gehlot at his residence here but it is not known what transpired at the meeting.Chandna on Thursday expressed anguish over the conduct of Gehlots principal secretary, referring to him as the minister of all the departments and said he would prefer being removed as a minister.


PTI | Haifa | Updated: 27-05-2022 21:28 IST | Created: 27-05-2022 21:28 IST
Gehlot plays down upset minister's tweet, says should not be taken seriously
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A day after the Rajasthan sports minister asked to be relieved from his post over the conduct of the CM's principal secretary, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday said Ashok Chandna's tweet should not be taken seriously as he might be under pressure due to workload.

In the evening, the minister met Gehlot at his residence here but it is not known what transpired at the meeting.

Chandna on Thursday expressed anguish over the conduct of Gehlot's principal secretary, referring to him as the ''minister of all the departments'' and said he would prefer being removed as a minister. Chandna made his displeasure public through a tweet, saying he does not want to hold on to the ''dishonourable'' ministerial post. The minister has not given any statement regarding his tweet.

Gehlot on Friday said Chandna's tweet should not be taken seriously as he might be under pressure due to workload.

Gehlot said Chandna had organised a state-level sports programme earlier and in the same way, a similar event-- Rural Olympics--is going to be held for the first time in Rajasthan in which 30 lakh people are likely to participate. ''A huge load is on him. Maybe he came under tension and made some comments. It should not be taken seriously...will talk to him,'' Gehlot told reporters in the morning. ''He seems to be working under pressure, such a big responsibility has come on him, will see,'' Gehlot said.

Meanwhile, the Congress backed Gehlot on his views over the minister's tweet.

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera in Delhi said CM Ashok Gehlot has given a reply and has said that the minister has a lot of departments with him and he may have tweeted out of tension due to workload.

''Our governments work and those who work have tension. We have never seen our prime minister in tension and he is always seen smiling. You can see one who does not work does not have tension, even when petrol rates are going sky high,'' Khera told reporters when asked about the minister's remarks. In his tweet, Chandna had said, ''I request the honourable chief minister to relieve me of this dishonourable ministerial post and give the charge of all my departments to Shri Kuldeep Ranka ji. He is anyway the minister of all the departments.'' Ranka is the principal secretary to the chief minister. The development comes just days ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections in Rajasthan and indicates resentment within the party.

Elections to four seats of the Rajya Sabha will be held on June 10. Just a week ago, Congress MLA from Dungarpur Ganesh Ghogra sent his resignation to Gehlot in protest against a police case against him.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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