Rajasthan Cabinet Minister Kirodi Lal Meena submitted his resignation late Wednesday, months after pledging to step down if the BJP loses the Dausa Lok Sabha seat.
Speaking to a news channel, Meena confirmed his resignation. He also explained his absence from Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma’s recent Cabinet meeting, stating he had “no moral right” to attend the meeting.
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Meena, who holds the Agriculture portfolio, also dismissed the speculations of differences with the Rajasthan CM.
He said that he tendered his resignation to the CM but the latter refused to accept it.
“But I told the CM that since I had spoken amidst the people and announced that I will resign if we don’t win this seat, I had to resign. It is natural that I cannot sit in a government bungalow, government car, or office,” he said.
After tendering his resignation, Meena shared a verse from Ramcharitmanas on his ‘X’ account.
“Raghukul reeti sada chali aayi, praan jaaye par vachan na jaaye,” he wrote in Hindi. This line from the Shri Ramcharitmanas roughly translates to “As per traditions of the ‘Raghukul’ (Lord Ram’s dynasty), life may go but words must be kept .”
During the Lok Sabha elections 2024, Meena had vowed to quit as minister if he failed to lead the party to victory in the Dausa Lok Sabha seat.
“Before the PM came to Dausa, I had said that if the (Dausa) seat is not won, I will leave the post of minister. Later, the PM spoke to me separately and gave me a list of 7 seats. I worked hard on 11 seats, more on 7. If the party loses even one seat out of those 7, I will leave the post of minister,” he had said before the results.
BJP’s Dausa candidate Kanhaiya Lal Meena was defeated by his Congress rival Murari Lal Meena by a margin of over 2.3 lakh votes.
