Rajasthan: CM Bhajan Lal Sharma Seems To Have Managed Kirodi Lal Meena's Disaffection—For Now

As the saying goes, "All's well that ends well," the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Rajasthan was recently able to end the week-long tussle with state agriculture Minister Kirodi Lal Meena.

On the second day (10 December) of the 'Rising Rajasthan' Summit in Jaipur, Meena was seen sharing the stage with Chief Minister (CM) Bhajan Lal Sharma and Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

The three leaders were not only sitting together but a good sense of humour also prevailed over the stage when CM Sharma said, "Today, we have a Baba and a Mama among us," and the audience laughed.

Meena is known as Baba among his followers and Chouhan is popular as 'Mamaji' since he was Madhya Pradesh CM and brought in women-centric schemes. The two leaders smiled back at Sharma's remarks.

The joke and the laughter were perhaps symbolic of the party and Meena himself moving on from the grudges the latter was holding against the Sharma government after a case was lodged against him over the charges of obstructing police from their duty.

The case came after Meena intervened to get two women students released who were detained on midnight of 3 December over apprehensions that they might protest during the Summit.

Meena not only called their detention 'illegal' but also accused Station House Officer (SHO) Kavita Sharma of being in her position based on false certifications and demanded her suspension.

SHO Sharma, later named Meena in her diary report, responding to which Meena said, "Only CM Bhajan Lal Sharma can tell under whose instructions a case was lodged against me."

He also wondered about having a case registered against him when his own party is in power and said, "A case against me in my government? I made the mistake of reaching the spot."

While there is no update about what happened later in this case, Meena arrived at the Rising Rajasthan Summit on 9 December, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was there.

When reporters asked him whether he was participating in the event as a Rajasthan Minister, since he had resigned in June but his resignation was not accepted, he said, "Ask CM Bhajan Lal Sharma."

Meena might have named Sharma to suggest that the latter was the one not accepting the former's resignation or might have been referring to the fact that he was invited by Sharma to the event.

While the first day of the Summit ended without much interaction between the two leaders, the second day had a session named 'Agri-Business Innovations' where Meena spoke and exchanged warm greetings with Sharma.

Since then, Meena has not spoken against the CM or his government and directly went to Dausa where a child was trapped in the borewell and the rescue operation was ongoing till the time of writing this report.

CM Sharma's show of respect and warmth for the senior leader appears to have pacified Meena. Sharma intervened in the matter at the right time as Congress leaders had also started using Meena for their politics.

While former Deputy CM Sachin Pilot supported Meena, Rajasthan Congress general secretary Jaswant Gurjar questioned why SHO Sharma was not suspended despite a recommendation in this regard.

Managing Meena, considered to be close to former CM Vasundhara Raje Scindia, has always been a challenge for CM Sharma but he appears to have done fairly till now.

When the BJP could not win the Dausa seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Meena resigned as Minister taking 'moral responsibility' for defeat in the Meena-dominant constituency.

However, a few observers say that Meena wanted a ticket for his brother Jagmohan but the BJP didn't award him that and ultimately lost the seat and Meena resigned to show his dissatisfaction.

However, when the bypoll happened in November for the Dausa assembly seat, which was vacated by Congress' Murari Lal Meena on winning the Lok Sabha election, the BJP awarded the ticket to Jagmohan.

CM Sharma had not accepted Meena's resignation and it was assumed that the assembly bypoll victory in Dausa would act as compensation for the Lok Sabha loss and Meena would himself join back as the Minister.

However, Jagmohan could not win the bypoll, in fact, the Dausa assembly seat was the single seat won by Congress among the seven Rajasthan seats that voted for the bypoll on 13 November.

Since then, Meena has been alleging that 'internal sabotage' led to his brother's loss. He also targeted several BJP leaders without specifically naming anyone.

His recent scuffle with the police might have been born out of this frustration or might be a part of his politics where he often projects himself as the 'voice of common people against the government machinery'.

Nonetheless, CM Sharma has so far succeeded in preventing Meena from openly rebelling and even used the latter's persuasive skills during some face-offs of common people with the government.

Moreover, Sharma has consolidated his position as the Rajasthan CM in one year of his tenure, especially after the BJP won five of seven assembly seats in the recent bypolls.

However, that is no guarantee that Meena will stop speaking against the government, even as CM Sharma has proven he knows how to take everybody along.