Rajasthan Cabinet minister Kirodi Lal Meena resigns

Rajasthan BJP leader and minister Kirodi Lal Meena on Wednesday announced his resignation - at a public prayer meeting in Jaipur - from the state cabinet and all posts.Meena - who held multiple portfolios, including Agriculture and Rural Development - said last month, before counting of votes for the 2024 Lok Sabha election, he would quit if the BJP lost any of the seven seats in eastern Rajasthan assigned to him by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Four of those - Bharatpur, Karauli-Dholpur, Dausa, and Tonk-Sawai Madhopur were among constituencies Meena was tasked with winning.In Dausa, the seat previously held by Meena, the Congress' Murari Meena thumped the BJP's Kanhaiya Lal Meena, by 2.37 lakh votes, to reclaim the bastion of party stalwart Rajesh Pilot.
In a statement, Meena confirmed his resignation. He said that this was also the reason why he did not attend Chief Minister Bhajan Lal’s Cabinet meeting as he had “no moral right”. Sources said that he had submitted his papers a few days ago. However, the resignation has not been accepted yet. Meena said, “There is no reason for me to be angry… I had also met the CM and very respectfully, he told me that ‘no, your resignation will not be accepted’. 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.” Overall the BJP only won 14 seats - 10 down from its 2019 election score.