Ashok Gehlot accuses Centre of ‘selling’ Aravallis, alleges conspiracy behind policy changes

Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday (December 22, 2025) launched a scathing attack on the Central Government, accusing it of hatching a ‘well-planned conspiracy’ to weaken environmental safeguards and pave the way for mining in the ecologically sensitive Aravalli range . Mr. Gehlot said the government’s move to redefine the Aravallis with a ‘100-meter’ criterion cannot be seen in isolation. “This is part of a larger design to capture institutions and hand over the Aravallis to the mining mafia,” he alleged. He pointed to two major decisions that, according to him, expose the Centre’s ‘real agenda’ and called Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav’s claim that only 0.19% of the Aravallis would be open for mining ‘misleading and factually incorrect’. The first step, Mr. Gehlot said, was the September 5, 2023 notification that brought the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) under the Ministry of Environment, stripping it of its independence. “The CEC, formed in 2002 under the Supreme Court’s supervision to protect forests, has now been turned into a government puppet. Earlier, its members were appointed with the Court’s approval. Today, the Centre controls appointments, reducing the CEC to a rubber stamp,” Mr. Gehlot said. The former Rajasthan Chief Minister further alleged that in June 2025, the Centre and the Rajasthan Government attempted to alter the boundaries of Sariska’s Critical Tiger Habitat to revive over 50 closed mines. The proposal, Mr. Gehlot said, was cleared in haste. The State Wildlife Board cleared it on June 24, and the National Board for Wildlife on June 26. The Supreme Court stayed the decision and asked, ‘How did something that takes months get done in 48 hours?’” Mr. Gehlot said, calling it the biggest evidence of collusion. Published - December 22, 2025 10:59 pm IST

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