Importance of being Kirodi Lal Meena: BJP rebel for all seasons, in govt or Opp

When the BJP was the principal Opposition in Rajasthan during 2018-2023, party veteran Kirodi Lal Meena regularly made news for his protests against the then Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government.

Although he is now a minister in the BJP-led government in the state, Meena 72, continues to grab headlines, living up to his image as a perennial rebel.

A month after the Lok Sabha poll results, which saw the BJP suffering a setback in Rajasthan, Meena has now said he has submitted his resignation from the party cabinet.

In the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, Meena had said that if the party would lose from the Dausa seat or any of the seven Lok Sabha constituencies in eastern Rajasthan, he will resign as a minister.

However, his resignation has not been accepted by Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma so far.

Meena currently holds four portfolios, including Agriculture and Horticulture, Rural Development, Disaster Management and Relief and Civil Defence, and Redressal of Public Litigation. In the government hierarchy, he is considered next only to CM Sharma and Deputy CMs, Diya Kumari and Prem Chand Bairwa.

Rebel in Opposition

During the tenure of the Gehlot government, Meena, a Rajya Sabha MP at the time, used to be in the limelight for his regular protests, hitting the road more often than many of his party colleagues and emerging as an almost parallel force in the state BJP.

From addressing press conferences and making “revelations” about the alleged involvement of people close to the Congress regime in leaks of government recruitment exam papers, to “self-styled raids” with the media in tow, the issues Meena raised were often later picked up by the state BJP, sometimes reluctantly.

Meena was among the first Opposition leaders to allege