New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Wednesday suspended MLA and former Rajasthan assembly Speaker Kailash Meghwal from the party, for his “open rebellion” against the party leadership and accusation of corruption against Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal.
Meghwal, who is among former chief minister Vasundhara Raje’s loyalists, had received a show-cause notice from the party on 29 August, but purportedly refused to withdraw his allegations and instead reiterated them in a press conference in Jaipur Wednesday.
The party announced his suspension while his press conference was underway.
“I will fight the upcoming election against the BJP candidate and defeat the party in my constituency,” Meghwal told the media. Assembly elections in the state are due later this year.
During the press conference, the senior BJP leader also shared a letter written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, detailing the allegations against Arjun Ram.
The 89-year-old MLA also claimed that Arjun Ram had taken bribes for allotting houses to non-widows under a scheme meant for widows (while he was a district collector), and had given false information in his election affidavit.
“Arjun Ram Meghwal had taken bribes and allocated houses under a scheme meant for widows to non-widows. An FIR had been registered in this case. The Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) filed a case against him and the sessions court even said that pressure has been built in this case [to close it],” Meghwal alleged.
The MLA also claimed that Arjun Ram Meghwal had not mentioned his cases in his election affidavit, and “giving wrong information is a crime and his Lok Sabha membership should be disqualified”.
The MoS has denied the allegations and been quoted by the media in Rajasthan as saying that the claims were baseless and motivated by personal vendetta. “Kailash Meghwal was making false accusations only to get a ticket from Congress or some other party,” he alleged.
Both Arjun Ram and Kailash Meghwal are both prominent Dalit leaders of the BJP in Rajasthan. However, Arjun Ram gained more prominence since being elected to Parliament for the first time in 2009.
Speaking to ThePrint, Meghwal said, “I have made seven charges of corruption against Arjun Ram Meghwal. During his tenure in the industry department, he has been accused of corruption. I have requested the Prime Minister to investigate cases against him and drop him from the cabinet. Now, the ball is in the PM’s court to show that the government has zero tolerance on corruption issues.”
He also alleged that the party was being run by “imported leaders” from other parties, who had no respect for loyal BJP leaders who had nurtured the party for years.
“These leaders had no love for the party ideology and were only in the party for power,” Meghwal claimed.
The BJP leader’s suspension came amid turmoil within the Rajasthan BJP unit. Supporters of former chief minister Vasundhara Raje are reportedly unhappy with the party’s central leadership for not declaring her to be the BJP’s CM face for the coming elections.
This will be reportedly the first time in 20 years that BJP will be fighting the elections in Rajasthan without Raje as its CM face.
Meghwal’s suspension also came shortly after Arjun Ram was appointed convenor of the BJP’s 25-member ‘Sankalp Patra’, or manifesto, committee for the upcoming Rajasthan assembly election, last month.
The MLA’s anger was reportedly triggered after one of Arjun Ram’s loyalists claimed to have got a ticket from his Shahpura constituency. According to party sources, Meghwal is unlikely to get a ticket in the coming assembly elections.
A BJP leader from Rajasthan, who did not want to be named, told ThePrint that Meghwal’s rebellion seems to be a reflection of his fears that Arjun Ram’s aides would get priority over him in the assembly elections.
ThePrint has reached Rajasthan BJP chief C.P. Joshi for comment on the perceived difference within the state party unit. The article will be updated once a response is received.
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Letter to the PM
Meghwal in the letter written to PM Modi, which he released at the press conference Wednesday and which ThePrint has seen, claimed that in 1999 the Atal Bihari Vajpyee-led government failed to win a trust vote because of just one vote and yet he refrained from horse trading.
The BJP leader alleged that today the party is doing everything to gain power, and resorting to horse trading to convert a minority government into a majority.
He even alleged that the BJP has many internal divisions in Rajasthan and one of them is totally sidelining Vasundhara Raje.
“BJP is split into groups from the highest to the lowest level. Those who support Vasundhara Raje are being targeted. I am seen as part of Vasundhara ji’s group and attempts are being made to wipe out her group completely. Vasundhara Raje will decide what to do.”
In the letter, Meghwal also alleged that Arjun Ram accepted Rs one-and-a-half crore from a leader of Maharashtra for a ticket and he failed to get it. Then the person approached various party leaders and demanded a refund.
“I was once a hero in this party, now I am hero se zero. Today, BJP is taking out four trips [a reference to the party’s four-part Parivartan Yatra in the state], Where are you seeing me in one place? In 2003 and 2013, I was given prominence in the journey that came out. Today I was sidelined. I will not be on the sidelines,” he said.
BJP turmoil in Rajasthan
Meghwal was issued a show-cause notice on 29 August, after he accused Arjun Ram of being a corrupt politician, while speaking at a public event in his constituency Shahpura in Rajasthan.
“This Arjun Ram Meghwal is corrupt number 1. He has corruption cases going on to this day. I will write to Prime Minister Modi to expel him from the Union Cabinet. I will tell him that you have a minister who was involved in corruption, that when he was an officer, he didn’t even spare the poor and the scheduled castes and took money from everyone,” he said at the event.
Meghwal’s rebellion is being seen as a reflection of discontent within the state BJP unit, especially in view of the perceived marginalisation of Vasundhara Raje. It also came just ahead of the BJP’s now-launched four-phase ‘Parivartan Yatra’, which was kickstarted from Ranthambore earlier this month.
According to BJP sources, Raje’s followers are not only upset at the party’s hesitation to declare her as the chief ministerial candidate, but are also worried by the increasing involvement of other leaders from Rajasthan, such as Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Amber MLA and Raje critic Satish Poonia and Arjun Ram, in state politics.
According to the anonymous BJP leader quoted above, many of Raje’s supporters were annoyed at the party’s decision to sideline her in the affairs of the Rajasthan BJP.
“This signaled to her supporters that her camp may not get enough tickets [in the coming elections]. Under the changed circumstances, either Shekhawat or Arjun Ram or Satish Poonia may dominate in ticket distribution,” the leader added.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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