Jaipur: The Rajasthan High Court has issued notices to the state government over a public interest litigation (PIL) that says that the ongoing “Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra” by chief minister Vasundhara Raje is an election campaign of the ruling BJP for which the tax payers’ money was being misused.Based on the PIL, a division bench comprising chief justice Pradeep Nandrajog and justice G R Moolchandani has sought replies from the BJP state president Madan Lal Saini, state chief secretary and principal secretary, chief engineer and additional secretary of the PWD.Petitioner Vibhuti Bhushan Sharma, through his counsel Madhav Mitra, informed court that home minister Gulab Chand Kataria as well as BJP state president Saini had publicly and through press conferences had claimed that the ‘Gaurav Yatra’ was a party function and was aimed at seeking a second term for the present BJP government in Rajasthan. The petitioner claimed the BJP issued advertisements and tweeted from its official twitter handle, making it clear that the yatra was the political party’s poll event.The court was further told that BJP national president Amit Shah was invited to flag of the Yatra, so it cannot be called a government function. Yet, the state government issued orders to the PWD officials to make arrangements for tents, stage and dais, sound systems and other requirements at the CM’s rallies, all through the 40-day yatra that will pass 165 assembly constituencies across the state, counsel Mitra told the division bench. It was argued that funds from the state exchequer were being spent for every single arrangement, including assigning duties to government’s public relation officers to travel with the entire yatra.Sharma, who too is a lawyer and a Congress supporter, said in his petition that no ruling party can be allowed to spend people’s hard-earned money for organising political events. Sharma has request the court to quash the state government’s orders authorizing expenditure from the exchequer for the ‘Gaurav Yatra’ and also recover the public money that has already been spent on the yatra’s events so far.

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