Rajasthan minister Meena’s resignation exposes yawning rift in state BJP

Monsoon may have brought relief to Rajasthan from the sultry summer heat, but the political temperature in the desert state has suddenly shot up. The resignation of Agriculture Minister Kirodi Lal Meena, exactly a month after the Lok Sabha results, has triggered a massive political storm. The exit of the most senior Cabinet minister has come as a major jolt to the state government and laid bare the deep dissensions within the ruling BJP in Rajasthan.

A tribal strongman, popularly known as “Kirodi Baba” in East Rajasthan, Meena made his resignation public on July 4, though he claimed he had tendered his resignation to Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma a month ago. He asserted that he was quitting to live up to his poll promise that if the BJP lost in Dausa (his home bastion) or any of the Lok Sabha seats in his charge, he would resign as a minister.

While his resignation sparked a furore, Meena tried to play down the buzz that he was upset with the party. Instead, he claimed, “I am not unhappy with the CM or the organisation, nor do I seek any post. I have merely kept the promise I had made.”

What lies beneath?

Though Meena wants to project that his resignation is only to live up to his poll promise, BJP insiders reveal the agriculture minister is angry over a variety of reasons.

In his sixth term as MLA, Meena is next in seniority only to former CM Vasundhara Raje in the BJP’s legislative wing. Given that Raje was no favourite of the BJP top brass, Meena had nurtured hopes of getting the chief minister’s post after the last Assembly polls. But his hopes were dashed, as the BJP high command picked debutant MLA Bhajanlal Sharma as the CM while Meena was ignored even for the deputy CM’s post.

Meena is said to be deeply unhappy that even in his ministerial portfolios some vital elements were not handed to him. For instance, though he was made agriculture minister, the crucial Agriculture Marketing wing was given to a different minister. Similarly, though he got Rural Development portfolio, the Panchayati Raj wing was sliced away. Inevitably, the firebrand Kirodi, the most aggressive BJP leader in the past five years of Congress rule, felt his stature was being lowered.

The final straw

Political corridors are abuzz that what finally snapped Meena’s patience was a run-in with Panchayati Raj Minister Madan Dilawar. While both come from the RSS stable, the duo has often been at loggerheads. Recently, the two had a face-off over the transfer of some officers from his Agriculture Department which was stalled by minister Dilawar — much to Meena’s chagrin.

During the distribution of Lok Sabha tickets, Meena was further aggravated as party bosses overlooked his advice even on east Rajasthan seats. He was incensed that his brother Jagmohan was not given the BJP ticket for his home constituency of Dausa. Though his views were ignored, Meena says PM Narendra Modi gave him the responsibility for BJP wins on seven seats of east Rajasthan. To woo voters, Meena announced that he would resign if BJP lost any of those seats. Ultimately, the BJP lost the Dausa seat by over 2 lakh votes and dropped 4 of the 7 seats in east Rajasthan — and ostensibly pushed Meena to resign.

Pressuring BJP?

Meena’s resignation, however, has deeper implications. Political circles are abuzz that by accepting his own “moral responsibility” for east Rajasthan losses, Meena is indirectly mounting pressure on the BJP to fix accountability for its setback in the Lok Sabha polls. The party had hoped to repeat the successes of 2014 and 2019 elections when it had won all 25 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan. But barely six months after regaining power, the BJP lost 11 seats — in the areas of several ministers, including CM Bhajanlal’s home district of Bharatpur.

Significantly, Meena’s resignation increases pressure on the state government, which has hardly put up an inspiring performance so far. Meena had recently highlighted some dubious deals under the Bhajan dispensation. In a letter to CM Bhajanlal in mid-May, Meena had flagged lapses in a housing project in Jaipur which he claimed would cause a loss of Rs 1,146 crore to the state government. He claimed the General Administration Department (GAD), under CM Sharma, was going ahead with the project without Cabinet clearance.

Similarly, Meena had raised concerns about the quality and quantity of pipelines laid in villages under the Har Ghar Jal Scheme. Demanding “strict monitoring” to prevent the wastage of public money and scams, Meena had warned that “our government should not face the same charges which we had levelled against the Congress regime six months back.”

Deep divide

Fundamentally, the Rajasthan BJP is deeply divided. For years, it has been split between loyalists of former CM Vasundhara Raje and the RSS lobby. Despite winning the last Assembly elections, the BJP has made no serious effort to bridge the rift. The divide was so severe during the Lok Sabha polls that Union minister Gajendra Singh had complained that BJP MLAs of his area were not helping his campaign.

The Lok Sabha setback has further sharpened the party infighting. In a report sent by the state BJP to the high command, factionalism and internal sabotage was identified as a prime cause for BJP failures in Rajasthan. While many party leaders have vocalised their frustration since the Lok Sabha setback, former CM Vasundhara Raje stayed silent despite being sidelined.

But recently, even Raje expressed her dismay when she remarked, “The era of loyalty was different when the person who promoted you in politics was respected. But today, people try to cut the finger of the one who taught them to walk.” Raje’s comment is a thinly veiled attack on some state leaders (such as Deputy CM Diya Kumari) who were her proteges but are now critics, and unveils the depth of the animus in the Rajasthan BJP.

Growing resentment

In a sign of the growing fissures, BJP MLAs have shown greater aggression than Opposition MLAs in lodging Calling Attention Motions in the state Assembly. Of the 148 such motions for the Budget Session, 80 have been filed by BJP MLAs — a fact that displays the growing resentment in the ruling party. Five BJP legislators have lodged 60 Calling Attention Motions and two of these MLAs — Kallicharan Saraf and Pratap Singh Singhvi — are known stalwarts of the Vasundhara Raje camp.

Meena’s resignation comes just ahead of five crucial bypolls for the Rajasthan Assembly. Beyond ruining the atmospherics of the Budget session, it’s a major jolt for BJP before the bypolls. On July 5, party chief JP Nadda met Meena and asked him to reconsider his decision and return for another meeting after 10 days. As three of the five by-elections are on tribal-dominated seats, the electoral test could get far tougher for the BJP if Meena insists on stepping down.

In a nutshell, Meena’s resignation reflects the deep discord in the Rajasthan BJP. If not handled effectively, the raging storm could soon plunge the Bhajan government into greater turbulence.