Rajasthan: Why Did BJP's Stalwart Tribal Leader Kirodi Lal Meena Quit The State Cabinet?

Last month, just before the polling results, Meena, a stalwart leader, had said he would quit if the BJP lost any of the seven seats in eastern Rajasthan, assigned to him by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A few hours before the counting began on June 4, 2024, Meena, a former Rajya Sabha MP, two-term Lok Sabha MP and six-time MLA had told reporters, "The PM spoke to me and gave me a list of seven seats. I worked hard. If BJP loses even one seat out of that seven, I will leave the minister post".

As per sources in the BJP, Meena had tendered his resignation a few days ago but it has not been accepted yet, as the party leaders are trying to convince him.

Talking to reporters on Thursday, Meena said, "I have resigned and I did not attend the recent cabinet meeting chaired by the chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, as my conscience did not allow me." Meena added, "I have also met the CM and he has assured me that the resignation will be accepted."

Earlier in the day, he also posted the famous Ramcharitramanas lines 'Raghukul reeti sada chali aai, pran jaai par vachan na jaai' on X , indicating that he kept his promise.

Seventy-two-year-old Kirodi Lal Meena is one of the stalwart tribal leaders of the Meena community and his popularity across the state can be gauged by his long innings in politics and emerging victorious from different constituencies.

Unlike 2014, BJP in Rajasthan failed to sweep all 25 seats. The Congress and the INDIA Bloc won 11 seats while the BJP was reduced to 14. Interestingly out of the seven Lok Sabha seats falling in eastern Rajasthan, Meena claimed to take responsibility for the win, while the BJP lost four including, Bharatpur, Karauli-Dholpur, Dausa, and Tonk-Sawai Madhopur.

Underlying reasons behind Kirodi Lal Meena's resignation

According to sources in the BJP, there is more to the reasons for Meena's resignation than the one cited by him. "Meena and their supporters were unhappy with the portfolio allocation in the government. Despite being the Agriculture and Rural Development minister, his supporters somehow found these less important. Earlier the Panchayati Raj ministry was merged with the Agriculture ministry, this time the two were separated. The Panchayat Raj portfolio was given to BJP's Madan Dilawar, who also holds the portfolio of primary education. This could be also one of the underlying reasons behind his resignation," a senior BJP leader told Outlook.

Going by the portfolio distribution in CM Bhajan Lal Sharma's cabinet, Meena is the only one to enjoy four portfolios --  Agriculture and Horticulture, Rural Development, Disaster Management, Relief and Civil Defence, and Public Prosecution Redressal Department -- after the CM and the two deputy chief ministers.

"He is the most senior minister in the cabinet but the portfolios given to him as compared to others were of less weight. While most of the faces are new in the cabinet, he was the most experienced politician and someone who led most of the protests against the Congress in the state when the BJP was in opposition," a close aide of Meena told Outlook.

In the last five years, Meena who was a sitting Rajya Sabha member then, took out massive protests against the ruling Congress government led by Ashok Gehlot. Meena cornered the Congress government on corruption, paper leaks and requirement drives. 

Another underlying reason behind Meena's resignation is the ticket distribution in eastern Rajasthan. As per sources, Meena wanted a ticket for his wife Golma Devi or a family member or a close aide from the Dausa constituency, the seat previously held by him, but the party denied it.

In Dausa, also a bastion of Congress stalwart Rajesh Pilot, the BJP's Kanhaiya Lal Meena, lost the seat to Congress' Murari Meena by 2.37 lakh votes.

Calling Meena's resignation as BJP's failure in the state, the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Congress' Tika Ram Jully said, "His resignation itself speaks that the public is not happy with the policies of the government. We welcome the decision. Atleast he kept his promise".