Raj govt accused of snooping by own min; Oppn asks CM to resign

Jaipur: Rajasthan agriculture minister Kirori Lal Meena left BJP bristling and defensive Friday after handing the Opposition some political ammo by accusing his own govt of snooping on him, including phone tapping, in retaliation for flagging suspected corruption in police recruitment.
A video of Meena's speech at an event near Jaipur the previous day purportedly shows him slamming the BJP ministry for allegedly putting him under surveillance "just like before", alluding to the erstwhile Ashok Gehlot-led Congress ministry.
"I raised several corruption-related issues, leading to the arrest of 50 SI recruits. When I demanded the cancellation of the 2021 recruitment exam, my concerns were ignored. Now, CID personnel have been stationed at every corner to keep an eye on me, and my phone is also being tapped," he says in the video.
The minister's office confirmed Friday that he made the remarks. Congress latched onto the controversy, demanding CM Bhajan Lal Sharma's resignation on the ground that the home department reports to him and subjecting a minister to phone tapping is a serious offence.
Meena's absence from the assembly's ongoing Budget session fuelled talk of a rift in BJP, although minister of state for home Jawahar Singh Bedam contested the surveillance allegations.
Bedam kept mum when the Opposition demanded to know if and when an inquiry would be instituted. Parliamentary affairs minister Jogaram Patel attempted, albeit unsuccessfully, to make light of the row by harking back to the phone-tapping allegations against the previous Congress govt when former deputy CM Sachin Pilot revolted against then CM Ashok Gehlot in July-Aug 2020.
The uproar in the assembly led to three adjournments as opposition MLAs refused to let go of the opportunity to target the treasury benches each time the House reassembled. On Feb 3, parliamentary affairs minister Patel informed the assembly that Meena had excused himself from the session, citing a health issue.
Congress MLAs said the cabinet minister had fallen out with the BJP brass, leading him to excuse himself from the assembly session. Meena's office clarified that he wasn't unwell and had formally communicated the reason for his absence to the party.
Late Friday, Patel convened a presser on the assembly premises to dispel what he termed were "rumours" about Meena's phone being tapped by the govt. "The minister of state for home has already clarified in the assembly that no phone tapping has taken place. I will meet my cabinet colleague (Meena) soon to hear his grievances, if any," he said.
The episode is the latest in a series of conflicts involving Meena and the BJP brass since he took charge as agriculture and rural development minister in Dec 2023, complaining that his "powerless portfolio" restricted his ability to implement welfare schemes.
He resigned in July 2024, citing differences with the party hierarchy. His resignation was put on hold following the BJP national brass's intervention.
The defeat of Meena's younger brother, Jagmohan Meena, in the Dausa bypoll in Nov 2024 — the minister blamed it on sabotage within BJP — was apparently the last straw.
This time, too, BJP bigwigs in Delhi might need to intervene. A senior party functionary admitted that Meena's allegation was "yet another embarrassment for the state govt".
Calls and texts by TOI to state BJP president Madan Rathore for a response to Meena's repeated attacks on the party and the govt he was part of went unanswered.