The BJP Rajasthan unit president Madan Rathore has sent a show cause to state minister Kirodi Lal Meena for "tarnishing" the government's reputation by alleging that his phone was being tapped, party leaders said on Monday.
However, Meena claimed ignorance about it and asserted that he was the party's "disciplined soldier" and would send his reply within the stipulated time once he received the notice. Meena made the statement during a public meeting after which the opposition Congress had raised the issue in the Rajasthan Assembly, causing embarrassment to the BJP government.
Raking the issue, Congress had demanded Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma's resignation. Leader of the Opposition Tika Ram Jully did not even give a speech on the Governor's address in protest. Congress MLAs kept raising slogans during the chief minister's speech.
In the show cause notice, the BJP said Meena's statement tarnished the government's reputation. "You are a member of the BJP and have been elected MLA from Sawai Madhopur region on the party ticket. You are also a minister in the Rajasthan government. Recently, you made available the news of your resignation from the Council of Ministers for publication in the newspaper. You also accused the BJP government of getting phone calls tapped by giving a public statement, which is untrue," the notice states.
It further said, "By giving a statement, you tarnished the reputation of the BJP majority government." The BJP leaders said that the show cause notice has been served under the directions of the party's national president JP Nadda, and asked Meena to submit his reply within three days.
(With PTI Inputs)
