Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday went into a damage control mode after some videos of a newly-appointed member of the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) member, where he is allegedly making casteist statements, went viral.
Former Colonel in the Army, the state government had appointed Kesari Singh Rathore, Ayub Khan and K C Meena as RPSC members, hours before the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) kicked in on October 9.
Subsequently, some videos of the retired Army officer started doing the rounds on social media, drawing flak from the members of Jat community and other castes which said that the statements were biased and targeted certain castes. By Thursday, the demand to remove Kesari Singh had grown louder and it started trending on ‘X’ too.
On Friday, CM Gehlot said he was ‘deeply hurt’ due to Rathore’s statements. He said the state government had recommended his appointment in view of his military background as a person serving in the Army is expected to serve the country irrespective of caste, religion, class etc. and soldiers sacrifice their lives to protect the borders of the country, hence they are respected in the society.
‘After the appointment of Colonel Kesari Singh, some of his statements have gone viral on social media, which are made against a particular caste and individuals, which are condemnable, painful and unfortunate. I too am deeply hurt by his comments,’ the CM said.
Moreover, Gehlot said that keeping paper leaks in mind, ‘The government tried to give place to officers from Army background in institutions like Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) and Rajasthan Subordinate Services Board (RSSB) so that the credibility of these institutions is maintained.’
‘Recently, the government had recommended the appointment of Major General Alok Raj as the chairman of RSSB and Colonel Kesari Singh as member of RPSC. Both of them neither applied nor any recommendation for them was received. They were appointed considering their 37 years and 20 years of military service respectively,’ he said.
Maj Gen (Retd) Alok Raj was appointed as RSSB chairman in August.
On Monday, appointment orders of Kesari Singh Rathore, Ayub Khan and Kailash Chand Meena were issued by the state department of personnel. The BJP had also questioned the timing of the appointments. Among others, Jat leader and president of Rajasthan Jat Mahasabha, Rajaram Meel, had written a letter to the Governor and Congress leaders on Tuesday to cancel rathore’s appointment in view of his ‘biased’ statements.
He said Rathore has been a controversial and biased person and has worked to spread hatred in society through his statements against certain castes, demanding that a person with a clean image and an unbiased approach be appointed in RPSC in order to maintain the sanctity of the commission.
‘Today, the chief minister has admitted that Kesari Singh’s statements were going to spread enmity seeing which he too is pained. I demand from CM Gehlot that he should demand the Rathore’s resignation. On the grounds of morality, Rathore should also resign,’ he said, reacting to the CM’s statement. Rathore hails from the Rajput community.
Meel said, ‘We are not against any community, we are only against a person who makes statements that spread enmity and is suffering from the mentality of caste discrimination. If a capable person is appointed from the Rajput community who can take along all ’36 qaum’ (communities), we will welcome him.’
