Kirodi Meena quits Rajasthan govt as BJP loses LS seats under his responsibility
Jaipur (PTI): Kirodi Lal Meena has resigned as a minister in the Rajasthan government following the BJP's underwhelming performance in the Lok Sabha polls in the state.
During the recently held elections, Meena (72) had said he would quit the Bhajan Lal Sharma government if the BJP loses any of the seven parliamentary seats under his responsibility.
The Rajasthan agriculture, rural development, disaster management and relief minister had said Prime Minister Narendra Modi assigned him the seven seats in eastern Rajasthan on which he worked hard during the polls.
But in the Lok Sabha poll results announced on June 4, the BJP lost some of these seats, including his native Dausa. Overall the BJP won 14 of the state's 25 seats, its tally coming down from 24 in the 2019 polls.
"Kirodi Meena resigned as minister. He gave the resignation to the chief minister 10 days back," an aide of the minister said.
On Thursday, Meena posted the famous Ramcharitramanas lines 'Raghukul reeti sada chali aai, pran jaai par vachan na jaai' on X to underline his unwavering intent to keep his promise at any cost.
Meena campaigned on eastern Rajasthan seats including Dausa, Bharatpur, Karauli- Dholpur, Alwar, Tonk-Sawaimadhopur and Kota-Bundi.
In the results declared last month, the BJP lost Dausa, Bharatpur, Karauli-Dholpur and Tonk-Sawai Madhopur.
Meena said he resigned to keep his word. "There is no reason for resentment. I have resigned. I did not go to the recent Cabinet meeting because I had resigned. I could go morally. I had also met the CM. He had respectfully said that he will not accept the resignation," he told a news channel on Thursday.
Meena said he had already announced in public he would resign if the party does not win the seats he worked on.
He was also in the race of chief minister's post after the results of the assembly elections were announced in December last year, but the party high command picked up first-time MLA Bhajanlal Sharma to lead the state.
Kirodi Meena, who is a five-time MLA and former Rajya Sabha MP, has been a Lok Sabha MP from Dausa and Sawai Madhopur.
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Bengal: Hundreds stage protest over 'threats' by TMC workers
Kolkata (PTI): Demanding safety after counting of votes, hundreds of villagers staged a protest in Falta in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district on Saturday, alleging they were receiving life threats from TMC workers in the area.
The protesters, many of them women and holding BJP flags, blocked the road in Hasimnagar village, alleging that local panchayat pradhan Israfil, a close associate of TMC candidate Jehangir Khan, issued them threats of attacks after poll results are announced.
The CRPF deputy commandant visited the area with a large force and assured the demonstrators of ensuring their safety.
Khan dismissed the allegations and said the women were "deployed" by the BJP to stage the demonstration and engineer the arrest of TMC functionaries in the area before the counting to "harm the morale of the TMC supporters".
"If the charges are proved, I am ready to face the law," he said.
Fatima Bibi, one of the protesters belonging to the BJP's Mahila Morcha, claimed Israfil and his men "have been visiting the area since April 30 and threatening us that there would be bloodshed from May 5. We demand CRPF remain in the area".
The CRPF official said, "We are here to instill confidence among the people with support of the local police, We have assured them of full security."
An Election Commission official said a report has been sought about the protests from the district administration.
