Outgoing Siwana pradhan accuses Congress leaders of conspiracy

The outgoing pradhan of Barmer’s Siwana panchayat samiti Garima Rajpurohit has accused her own party leaders of conspiring with opposition BJP to remove her from the post.

Rajpurohit, a Congress leader, said she gained popularity among people of the area in the last three years and is being considered as the strongest candidate for next assembly elections. “This has not gone down well with the senior Congress leaders, who joined hands with the BJP to remove me,” she alleged.

She named Congress national secretary Harish Choudhary, party leader Mahant Nirmaldas and former pradhan Omaram Bheel among those who conspired against her. “These leaders have misled the panchayat samiti members to support the no-confidence motion,” she alleged, adding that she has complained about the issue to the party leadership and demanded action.

Choudhary, however, said once the issue of no-confidence motion came to his knowledge, he tried his best to explain to the Congress members and requested them not to support it, but failed in his efforts.

Rajpurohit also alleged that BJP resorted to horse trading to snatch the post from her. “BJP leaders have given ₹10 lakh to each panchayat samiti member for casting vote against me,” she alleged.

Rajpurohit was removed from the post of pradhan on August 9 through a no-confidence motion. In the 2014 panchayat elections, Congress won 16 of the total 25 seats in the panchayat samiti.