The exile of Dr. Kirori Lal Meena ended in less than 10 years. And he is back home. The 66-year old Meena strongman from RSS background has found his ‘retirement’ home in BJP, which offered him the Rajya Sabha ticket as a welcome gift. The formal announcement of his comeback will be made today. With his entry into BJP, the state unit of his party National People’s Party (NPP) merges with BJP, which has allied with NPP in Meghalaya to form a government. NPP has four MLAs in the assembly. Out of which barring MLA Naveen Pilania other NPP lawmakers – Geeta Verma and Kirori Lal Meena’s wife Golma Devi have too joined the BJP. "I have come back to my home.
But formal procedure of membership will be done on Sunday," said Kirori Lal Meena.
Political Outcome:
Kirori Lal Meena has a stronghold in Meena dominated areas especially in the eastern part of the state. With Gurjar’s threatening to move away from BJP over quota issues, Meena’s re-entry in BJP will bring consolidated Meena vote bank to BJP fold ahead of assembly elections. Kirori’s homecoming to BJP will also weaken the prospects of formation of any third front. Independent MLA Hanuman Beniwal and BJP’s ‘rebel’MLA Ghanshyam Tiwari were looking to join hands with Meena for the rise of third political power in the state.
The political drama unfolded
There had been speculation of Kirori joining BJP ever since BJP had joined hands with former Lok Sabha speaker P N Sanghma’s NPP in Meghalaya to form the government. But his uneasy political equation with Raje, with whom he fell out in 2008, was keeping everyone guessing. “The diktat had come from the centre to bring Meena back. And he was also given Rajya Sabha ticket to send a strong message that Meena will hold a considerable say in ticket distribution, especially for the Meena dominated region.
On Saturday morning, Kirori came to Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's residence. According to sources, Kirori agreed to join the BJP. The NPP, which currently has four legislators. Consent of two-third legislators is needed for the merger. So, Kirori, his wife Golma Devi and Sikarai legislator Geeta Verma joined hands with BJP. Sources said that Kirori demanded a Rajya Sabha ticket for his brother Jagmohan Meena, who had contested Lok Sabha seat from Tonk-Sawai Madhopur in 2014 on NPP ticket. But this demand was not agreed upon. The central BJP refused Jagmohan Meena's Rajya Sabha ticket. The central BJP wanted Kirori Lal to go to the Rajya Sabha. After more than three hours of meeting, they could not arrive at any compromise. Later in the afternoon, talks again began at the Chief Minister's residence which was attended by Raje, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rajendra Rathore, Water Resources Minister Ram Pratap Singh, Transport Minister Yunus Khan, BJP State President Ashok Parnami, Kirori Lal Meena and his brother Jagmohan Meena. After this meeting, NPP leader agreed to join the BJP and Kirori also agreed to go to the Rajya Sabha. After this meeting, Kirori Lal, along with his brother, came to the residence of Cabinet Minister Rampratap. Agriculture Minister Prabhulal Saini, Transport Minister Yunus Khan and Mines Minister Surendra Pal TT and former minister Laxminaryan dave also reached there. During this meeting, Kirori handed over a signed letter of the three legislators for the merger of the NPP to BJP. This letter was sent to the central BJP. BJP Parliamentary Board in Delhi approved the merger of BJP and NPP. Now formal announcement will be done today.
How & When...
The process of Ghar Wapsi of Kirori Lal started from Friday night. The Chief Minister convened a meeting of the BJP Election Committee at his residence after returning from Tripura and Mumbai trip. Kirori also reached the CM residence during this time.
All the NPP MLAs, including Kirori Lal Meena, will be attending the meeting of the BJP Legislature group on Sunday. The meeting of the BJP Legislature group will be held on Sunday at 4 pm in the chairmanship of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. The meeting will include BJP state in-charge Avinash Rai Khanna, National General Secretary Bhupendra Yadav and BJP state president Ashok Parnami. Under the preparations for the Rajya Sabha elections, a meeting of the BJP Legislature group has been convened. On Monday, for the Rajya Sabha elections, the nomination date is the last date. In the meeting of the legislative group, MLAs will be introduced to the candidates of the Rajya Sabha elections. Kirori Lal Meena, his wife Golma Devi and Geeta Verma will also be included in the meeting.
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 "Kirori Lal Meena")
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