New Delhi: Controversies refuse to leave Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Prem Chand Bairwa alone, as he is now in the soup for recommending a retired state government servant be made the registrar of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA).
Bairwa was caught in a similar row involving appointment of community liaison group (CLG) members.
Last week, the Rajasthan deputy chief minister was in the news after his son Ashu was seen in a widely-shared video, driving an open-top jeep in the rain while being escorted by the police.
The vehicle is said to be of Congress leader Pushpendra Bhardwaj’s son Kartikeya, who shared the clip on Instagram. “My son studies in senior secondary and those with him in the viral video are his school friends. … It was only because of my position that wealthy people offered my son a ride, and out of curiosity, he accepted. He is a kid and not even 18-years-old,” Bairwa had said,defending his son.
Later, the deputy chief minister apologised for making this statement defending his son.
Now, Bairwa is accused of misusing his official position by writing on 23 August to Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, recommending former RAS officer Ram Chandra Bairwa be considered as the RERA registrar.
ThePrint has seen the contents of the letter, which bears the stamphead of the Rajasthan deputy chief minister’s office.
The RERA works for regulation and promotion of the real estate sector in the state. It also functions as an adjudicating mechanism for speedy dispute redressal regarding land and real estate industry.
When the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) forwarded the letter to the urban development ministry, it was purportedly found that 13 applicants had applied for the post of registrar, according to sources in the Rajasthan government.
While a retired IAS officer was found suitable for the post, it was later learnt that Ram Chandra Bairwa had not even applied for the advertised post.
Since no application had been allegedly put in by Ram Chandra Bairwa in the first place, the RERA wrote to the urban development ministry seeking its nod on whether to go ahead with the appointment of the candidate recommended by the deputy CM, or to follow the existing protocols.
The appointment in question never took place as the ministry and the authority allegedly kept exchanging letters without any clear direction on the hiring of the deputy CM’s candidate bypassing the rules.
“Anybody can go to court as the vacancy is advertised and it (the recommendation) is public now. That is the main problem in accepting the recommendation of the deputy CM. The government can reject applications on ground that no suitable candidate was but it will raise questions (about propriety),” an official of the Rajasthan urban development ministry told ThePrint.
“Apart from favouring one person, the talk in bureaucracy circles is how civil servants are taking both the CM and his deputy’s words lightly as many ministers lack experience,” the official added.
ThePrint contacted the Chief Minister’s Office and the deputy chief minister via calls for comments but no statement was received till the publishing of this report. This report will be updated if and when responses are received.
A new twist has emerged after the RERA ignored the deputy CM’s recommendation with Urban Development Minister Jhabar Singh Kharra asking the RERA chairman to justify why an interview was not conducted to select the registrar and why the screening committee was not involved for selection of a candidate, among others.
Kharra was taking side of Bairwa after the tussle between the RERA chairman and the ministry in the backdrop of the letter coming out in the public, the sources said. “He (RERA chairman) is defying recommendation, but it has opened up an administrative fault line as officers are not listening to the ministers,” one of the sources said.
The latest episode has already triggered a war of words, with the opposition Congress accusing Bairwa of pushing his men in senior positions.
“The Deputy CM inducts his own man by passing rule to make money. How can you want to induct officers without following basic established norms of application or interview,” Congress spokesperson Swarnim Chaturvedi told ThePrint.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan BJP spokesperson Mukesh Parikh defended Bairwa, saying that the deputy CM could “recommend any official for appointment, if any person has not applied for the post”.
“The department concerned can also seek more applications to include more names or drop them. Such power exists within the government,” he contended.
Headache for Bhajanlal govt
For the BJP government led by Bhajanlal Sharma, a first-time MLA, the timing of these controversies could not have come at a worse time.
Be it the avalanche of letters by cabinet minister Kirodi Lal Meena whose “resignation” status is unknown, or BJP state in-charge Radha Mohan Das Agrawal rubbing the Rajput outfits the wrong way, the BJP state unit has been fighting a lonely battle in the state.
As if that was not enough, BJP state president Madan Rathore put the government in a tight corner in September when he spoke about scrapping six-seven districts purportedly drawn out for “appeasement” by the previous Congress dispensation.
“Like the CM, Bairwa also lacks prior administrative experience. He has never been a minister in the past; and, rose to deputy CM directly, something like Bhajan Lal becoming the CM directly bypassing others,” a senior BJP state leader told ThePrint.
“In such a situation, the ministers sometimes don’t know how to proceed in administrative matters. Even if you want someone to be appointed, such work should be left to the private secretary or the OSD to execute. … Such embarrassing situations arise when there is a lack of experience. They will learn from their mistakes,” the BJP leader explained.
(Edited by Tony Rai)