New Delhi: Senior minister Kirodi Lal Meena has announced his resignation from the Rajasthan cabinet, a decision which seemingly comes after he had promised to step down if the ruling BJP lost any parliamentary seat under his watch.
The BJP tally came down from 24 seats in 2019 to 14 this year, with the party losing in Dausa, Bharatpur, Karauli-Dholpur, and Tonk-Sawai Madhopur where Meena had campaigned. Among the seats that the BJP lost was Meena’s native Dausa where the Congress candidate won by 2 lakh-plus votes.
“I have resigned as minister from the cabinet; that is why I did not attend the cabinet meeting. I have no moral right to attend it,” he said at a religious gathering Wednesday.
Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma is yet to accept the resignation of the BJP veteran.
On Thursday, Meena posted on ‘X’ a couplet from Tulsidas’s ‘Ramcharitmanas’ seeking to assert that he had kept his promise made earlier.
रघुकुल रीति सदा चलि आई।
प्राण जाई पर बचन न जाई।।
(श्रीरामचरितमानस)
— Dr.Kirodi Lal Meena (@DrKirodilalBJP) July 4, 2024
Political circles, including those in the BJP, were agog that Meena had resigned to put pressure on the state government ahead of the by-polls to five assembly constituencies of Jhunjhunu, Dausa, Deoli-Uniyara, Khinvsar, and Chaurasi. Meena is in-charge of Dausa.
Apart from his promise made before the Lok Sabha elections, the Rajasthan agriculture minister had written to the CM alleging corruption in various schemes including in the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission.
On a media question why he resigned, the BJP veteran reiterated his stand saying that he had made his announcement amidst the people to resign if the party loses in Dausa.
“I can’t move away from the commitment made during the election rally. It is natural that I can’t not sit in a government office, or avail a bungalow or a government vehicle,” Meena said.
“I informed my intention to the CM a few days back, but he said ‘your resignation will not be accepted’. BJP general secretary (B.L. Santosh) invited me to Delhi, but I could not meet him due to his engagements. I will go to meet him, whenever he calls”
BJP Rajasthan vice-president Mukesh Dadhich told ThePrint that Meena resigned citing his promise made to people, but the party would resolve the issue. “He will withdraw his resignation,” Dadhich said.
Similarly, a BJP central leader told ThePrint that Meena resigned to show he walked the talk on his commitment. “If he has any grievances, the party will address them,” he added.
‘Maverick’ Meena
In his letter to the CM over alleged irregularities in government programmes, Meena had demanded the recall of a housing project in Jaipur as it did not have cabinet clearance.
The five-time MLA further emphasised the need to fix a number of issues at various levels and instructions to be given for “strict monitoring”. “Our government should not face the same allegations which we had levelled against the Congress’s six months back,” he wrote.
Meena had highlighted two key concerns — pooling of tenders and that regarding the quality and quantity of pipelines laid in villages — in the implementation of the Har Ghar Jal scheme.
The tribal leader had sought strict monitoring to ensure that there was no wastage of public money, embezzlement and scam so that “our government is also not accused of the same”.
“Meena’s resignation is not sudden but a calculated strategy to put pressure on the Bhajan Lal government as the CM’s political acumen has come under lens for the Lok Sabha debacle,” a BJP functionary from Rajasthan told ThePrint.
“And with the state headed to the assembly by-polls, the poll narrative will go against the government. The party has made him in-charge of Dausa, and Meena is playing his card smartly.”
The BJP functionary went on to recall how Meena had quit the BJP when he failed to corner then chief minister Vasundhara Raje.
“A maverick, Meena, not only left the BJP but his wife joined the Congress government of Ashok Gehlot and was made a minister. Later, PM Modi convinced Meena to return to the BJP after Raje lost in 2018,” the functionary said.
Another BJP insider hinted that Meena, a former Rajya Sabha MP, was unhappy with how things had unfolded after the party won the state election in November.
“Meena is one of the major BJP leaders in eastern Rajasthan was not accorded deputy chief minister’s post, which upset their supporters, although he was in contention for the CM’s post. The Congress mocked Meena that the BJP did not give due respect to a veteran leader,” the insider said.
“Meena was further annoyed when he was not given a choice of ministry. When he was given the ministry, it was further bifurcated into agriculture and rural development. That’s why he took charge of his ministry late. Even the Congress made an issue that Meena was not accorded good ministry.”
The BJP veteran was lobbying for his brother Jagmohan Meena to be the party candidate from the Dausa parliamentary seat but the party fielded Kanhaiya Lal Meena who lost by a large margin, the insider said.
“Meena is a mass leader… He started writing to highlight the incompetence within the government once he sensed that he can push the weak CM. In the Ashok Gehlot era, he went on to protest paper leaks and to go on fasts over law and order. He virtually established a parallel party structure in raising public grievances,” a third BJP insider said.
“Meena knows his strengths. If he is not satisfied, he will become a virtual leader of opposition within the government anytime. (His) resignation is the first step,” the insider said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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