BJP sends show cause to Kirodi Meena over his phone-tapping allegation
Jaipur, Feb 10 (PTI): The BJP's Rajasthan unit president Madan Rathore has sent a show cause to Cabinet minister Kirodi Lal Meena for "tarnishing" the state government's reputation by alleging in a public meeting recently that his phone was being tapped, party leaders said on Monday.
Meena, however, claimed ignorance about it and while asserting that he was a "disciplined soldier" of the party said he would send his reply within the stipulated time once he received the notice.
After Meena made the phone-tapping claim, the opposition Congress had raised the issue in the Rajasthan Assembly, causing embarrassment to the BJP government.
The Congress had demanded Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma's resignation over the allegation and Leader of the Opposition Tika Ram Jully did not even give a speech on the Governor's address in protest. Congress MLAs kept raising slogans during the chief minister's speech.
In the show cause notice, the BJP said Meena's statement tarnished the government's reputation.
"You are a member of the BJP and have been elected MLA from Sawai Madhopur region on the party ticket. You are also a minister in the Rajasthan government. Recently, you made available the news of your resignation from the Council of Ministers for publication in the newspaper. You also accused the BJP government of getting phone calls tapped by giving a public statement, which is untrue," the notice states.
It further said, "By giving a statement, you tarnished the reputation of the BJP majority government."
The show cause notice, served under the directions of the party's national president, asked Meena to submit his reply within three days, BJP leaders said.
Meena, however, said, "I am not aware of the show cause notice. I am a disciplined soldier of the party. As soon as I receive the notice, I will send my reply to the party leadership within the stipulated time period."
After the party's below-expectation result in the Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan, Meena resigned from his ministerial post. He informed the media about his resignation during a religious programme on July 4 in Jaipur.
Meena had said that he had sent his resignation to the chief minister in June but he did not accept it. Meena continued to deal with departmental files as a minister, but he did not attend cabinet meetings.
Regarding his resignation, the BJP always maintained that he is its senior leader and is working in the government as a minister.
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Bihar: Over 150 children fall ill after consuming 'mid-day meal' in Saharsa
Saharsa (PTI): More than 150 children were taken ill after allegedly consuming food that was part of the mid-day meal in a school in Bihar’s Saharsa district, a senior official said on Thursday.
The incident occurred at a middle school in Baluaha village of the district.
The official said that 115 children were undergoing treatment at the Sadar Hospital, while around 50 students were admitted to Mahishi Public Health Centre.
“We received information that several children fell ill after consuming the mid-day meal in Baluaha. The children were initially treated at the primary health centre, but later, many were referred to the Sadar Hospital,” Saharsa District Magistrate Deepesh Kumar told reporters.
“According to doctors, the health condition of the children has improved, but they will be kept under observation for some time. There is no need to panic. Some kids are having mild fever. They are being treated accordingly,” Kumar said.
Meanwhile, family members of some children claimed that a snake was found in the container in which cooked pulses was stored at the school.
Of the 545 students present in the school, 200 had already eaten their meals by the time the snake was spotted, and later complained of stomach ache and vomiting, they said.
Regarding the claims, the DM said food samples have been collected from the school.
“We will be able to comment on this only after the results of the tested samples arrive,” he said.
