Jaipur, Jan 15 (IANS): Rajasthan BJP president Satish Poonia on Wednesday said that Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot should stop threatening the media to hide his failures and should instead start concentrating on his state's affairs which have turned worse in the last 13 months of the Congress government.

Poonia was speaking with reference to the December 16 notice of the Press Council of India taking suo-moto cognisance on the disconcerting statements on the media made by Gehlot during a press conference last month.

The Chief Minister told the media that if they wanted advertisements from the state, then they should carry government news.

The Press Council notice said that such a statement was contrary to values of democracy and affects the reliability and freedom of the media.

Poonia said that the media, described as the "fourth pillar of democracy" has been working hard to bring out both success and failure stories of the state government.

Gehlot is the first Chief Minister of the state to have received such a notice which gives an impression that the media faces threat under his tenure.

This also raises a question mark on the person who presets himself as a follower of Gandhian philosophy, he added.

According to Poonia, the Press Council of India has also sent a notice to Chief Secretary in this regard and has asked for a reply in next two weeks.

He also said that Rajasthan has joined the list of states which top the crime rankings, while Gehlot, despite being the Home Minister, is unable to control the crime rate.

Similarly, Gehlot has also dismissed death of over 100 children in the state as a minor issue. Besides, farmers have suffered huge losses from a locust attack on their crops, for which the Chief Minister has not announced any compensation.

Poonia noted that Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot has also spoken time and again about the carelessness and negligence of different departments.

People of Rajasthan are suffering due to such dual power centres in the government, and the state can never develop in such a situation, he added.