Why Kirodi Lal Meena Resigned From Rajasthan Cabinet: The Sachin Pilot Connection In BJP's Dausa Loss

After skipping Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal’s Cabinet meeting, Agriculture Minister Kirodi Lal Meena extended his resignation on Wednesday (3 July) night, which has not been accepted yet.

Meena believes that he has "no moral right" to hold the Cabinet Minister post as he had said in public that he would resign if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) loses the Lok Sabha election in Dausa.

After resigning, Meena posted lines from Ramcharitmanas on X, "Raghukul reeti sada chali aayi, pran jaye par vachan na jayi," suggesting that one has to follow his words even at the cost of his life.

Congress' Murari Lal Meena was able to defeat BJP's Kanhaiya Lal Meena by a margin of 2.37 lakh votes in the Scheduled Tribe (ST)-reserved constituency of Dausa.

BJP has been winning this seat since 2014 by changing its candidates each time. This time former Bassi MLA Kanhaiya Lal Meena was given the ticket replacing Jaskaur Meena but could not secure a victory.

Kirodi Lal Meena had himself won this seat as an Independent in 2009. The seat has been won by former deputy CM Sachin Pilot in 2004 and his father Rajesh Pilot multiple times and his mother Rama Pilot in 2000 by-polls.

This election witnessed fierce campaigning by former Dausa MPs as Sachin Pilot campaigned for Congress and Kirodi Lal Meena for BJP. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a rally there.

"The kind of connection we have with this region, we will definitely get the result of that," Pilot had said while asserting that the highest margin of victory for Congress would be in Dausa.

That actually turned out to be true as in no other seat of Rajasthan, that Congress won, the party had a margin of victory of more than 2 lakh votes.

Kirodi Lal Meena had also claimed that by campaigning, they had created a wave in BJP's favour, and after PM Modi's roadshow, there will be a storm and tsunami in PM Modi's name.

During the PM's roadshow, Kirodi Lal Meena was on Modi's left, while the BJP candidate Kanhaiya Lal Meena was on his right. The outgoing BJP MP Jaskaur Meena had also campaigned.

However, the Congress candidate played on people's dissatisfaction over water crisis in Dausa and alleged that PM Modi is not declaring ERCP (Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project) as a national project.

Former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra too had campaigned in Dausa, while the BJP sought to play on Hindutva factor through Yogi Adityanath's rally.

The result was the BJP's loss and taking moral responsibility for that, Kirodi Lal Meena resigned. He has clarified that he has no grudges with the party and his discussion with the CM was very respectful.

The loss came a few months after the BJP won five of the eight Assembly segments coming under the Dausa Lok Sabha constituency in the state elections held in November last year.