BJP’s Kirodi Lal Meena has resigned from the Rajasthan cabinet, his aide announced on Thursday. Meena had vowed to step down if the BJP lost any of the seven parliamentary seats he was in charge of in the recent Lok Sabha elections. Following the ruling party’s losses, including his native of Dausa, Meena decided to resign.

“He gave the resignation to the chief minister 10 days back,” the aide said.

Sharing a verse from the Ramcharitmanas on X, Meena said, “Raghukul Reeti Sada Chali Aai, Pran Jaai Par Bachan Na Jaai”.

Meena, who served as the minister for agriculture, rural development, disaster management, and relief, had campaigned across eastern Rajasthan’s Dausa, Bharatpur, Dholpur, Karauli, Alwar, Tonk-Sawai Madhopur, and Kota-Bundi. Of these, the BJP managed to win only the Kota and Alwar Lok Sabha seats.

On June 3, a day before the results, Meena revealed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given him a list of seven seats in eastern Rajasthan to focus on.

“Before the PM came to Dausa, I had said that if we didn’t win the Dausa seat, I would resign as minister. Later, the PM spoke to me separately and gave me a list of seven seats. I worked hard on 11 seats, but focused more on those seven,” Meena said.

In last year’s assembly polls, Meena won from Sawai Madhopur. The BJP won in 115 of the 200 constituencies and the Congress managed 66.

The BJP, which had swept the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan winning 24 out of 25 seats, saw its tally drop to 14 in the 2024 elections. On the other hand, the Congress, which had drawn a blank earlier, bagged eight seats this time. Congress allies CPI(M) and Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLTP) won one seat each.