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Raje's foreign trips: Gehlot seeks details

Special Correspondent

Vasundhara gets ready for fortnight-long trip to England and United States

JAIPUR: Congress general secretary Ashok Gehlot has asked Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje to make public the details of her foreign trips during the past two-and-a-half years. The public had a right to know as to how many trips she had made, to which all countries and who all had accompanied her in these trips, Mr. Gehlot said even as the Chief Minister is getting ready for a fortnight long trip next week to England and the United States.

"The only trip I made abroad when I was Chief Minister, which was on the invitation of the Rajasthan Association of North America (RANA), was termed by Ms. Raje as a `mission with a hidden agenda'. The National Democratic Alliance Government had even delayed granting me permission to go abroad due to which my stopover at London was to be cancelled," Mr.Gehlot said talking to newspersons here on Sunday.

Ms.Raje is going to New York this time with a few members of her Cabinet and senior bureaucrats on an invitation from RANA while in the United Kingdom she is scheduled to address a programme of doctors in London.

"Back in July 2003 when I was going abroad Ms.Raje had alleged that I was leaving behind drought-stricken farmers. She had made the observation that there was no reason for me to go abroad as the State had no infrastructure such as power, water and roads to attract any investment from abroad. My trip was termed as a journey to solicit election funds for the Congress by Rajendra Rathore, one of her Cabinet colleagues," Mr.Gehlot noted.

"It would be only proper if the Chief Minister can provide the details of the investments she could bring to the State from abroad through her numerous trips," Mr.Gehlot said. The State's farmers are under duress. They are hit by drought and the payments on the procurement of mustard at minimum support price are still pending. The State has been experiencing continuous power cuts for months together. Drinking water is not being available to most of the people and the roads are in bad shape. "Should she go abroad now when the State is in this condition? And what is her hidden agenda now?" Mr.Gehlot sought to know.

Citing a report in a national daily from Delhi last week that Ms.Raje had chartered an aircraft to Tel Aviv in May to attend an international agriculture event along with six others, Mr.Gehlot demanded an enquiry into the trip and the identities of her co-passengers. Mr.Gehlot alleged breach of protocol by Ms.Raje on several occasions during her trips and functions which was creating problems for the security authorities.

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