Gehlot Govt Suspends Jaipur Heritage Mayor After Her Husband Caught Taking Bribe

New Delhi: Jaipur Heritage Municipal Corporation Mayor Munesh Gurjar was on Saturday suspended by the Ashok Gehlot-led government after her husband Sushil Gurjar was arrested for taking a bribe. Sushil Gurjar and two others were arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau on Friday night for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 2 lakh.

In the suspension order, Hridesh Kumar Sharma, Director and Special Secretary of the local self-government department, said the mayor is suspended from her post till the investigation completes as her prima facie involvement in the case is suspected.

Earlier on Friday, ACB ADG Hemant Priyadarshy said Sushil Gurjar was demanding the bribe through two middlemen Narayan Singh and Anil Dubey in lieu of issuing a lease of a plot. After verification of the complaint, a trap was laid and all three were caught while taking the bribe.

During the search of the house of Sushil Gurjar, the ACB team recovered more than Rs 40 lakh in cash and a file of the lease. Similarly, Rs 8 lakh was recovered from the house of Narayan Singh.

Munesh Gurjar and a few other Congress councilors had protested against the then commissioner of the corporation in June while accusing him of corruption. They staged a dharna in the corporation headquarters demanding action against the officer.

Days later, the officer had lodged an FIR against Munesh Gurjar and other councilors accusing them of wrongful confinement and deterring him from performing his duty.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stepped up its attack on the Gehlot government and accused it of corruption.

"In every vein of Congress, from top to bottom, in every department, there is only corruption all around," Rajasthan BJP chief CP Joshi said after Gurjar's arrest.

इस भ्रष्ट तंत्र के तार कहीं न कहीं ऊपर के लोगों तक जुड़ते हैं। सही जांच हो तो पूर्ण सत्य सामने आ सकता है। (2/2) — C. P. Joshi (@cpjoshiBJP) August 4, 2023