Kirodi Lal Meena blames 'traitors' for brother's loss in Dausa bypoll

Jaipur, Nov 23 (PTI) Following the loss of his brother in the Dausa bypoll, Rajasthan minister Kirodi Lal Meena said his aversion to sycophancy has caused him a lot of suffering in his political life.
     Without naming anyone in a series of Hindi posts on X, Meena said he was "pained" that "traitors" were behind his brother Jag Mohan Meena's loss. Jag Mohan, a former bureaucrat, lost the by-election to Congress candidate Deen Dayal with a margin of 2,300 votes.
     Kirodi Lal Meena, who is from Dausa, is a six-time MLA, two-time Lok Sabha MP and one-time Rajya Sabha MP.
     "Gairon mein kahan dum tha, mujhe toh apno ne hi maara hai (strangers had no power over me, I was defeated by my own)," the BJP leader wrote.
     Reacting to the assembly bypoll results, Kirodi Meena posted on X, "It has been 45 years. During my political journey, I have fought for all sections of society. I have led countless movements for the public good. I fought with courage. In return, I have suffered countless injuries at the hands of the police. Even today, when the weather changes, my whole body aches."
     Meena said he spent many days behind bars for his political work.
     "It is on the strong foundation of this struggle that the by-election was contested in Dausa. I shared the story of my struggle with the public and even went door to door, begging for votes. Yet, some people remained unmoved," he said.
     "If traitors had rained arrows on my chest, I would have suppressed the pain and buried all the words within me. But they chose to be like Meghnad and struck my brother, who was like Lakshman to me, with a powerful arrow," the minister said without naming anyone. In the Ramayana, Ravana's son Meghnad hit Lord Ram's brother Lakshman with an arrow, severely injuring him.
    He was neither disheartened nor discouraged by the loss in Dausa, the minister said.
     "Though defeat has taught me a lesson, I am not shaken. I am determined to continue on the path of struggle. I can never give up my vow to serve the poor, the workers, the farmers and every person in distress," he said.
     Meena, however, said the loss was painful. "The brother who stood by me like a shadow throughout my life, who alleviated every pain of mine, when it was time to repay that debt, I could not do so due to some traitors," he said.
     "I only have one weakness: I do not indulge in sycophancy. And because of this trait, I have suffered a lot in my political life. I am a man of dignity. For the sake of the people, I can risk my life," he added.
     Kirodi Meena was considered in the race for the chief minister's post when the party came to power in December last year.
     However, the party leadership chose first-time MLA Bhajanlal Sharma and made Kirodi the agriculture minister. After the Lok Sabha elections, he submitted his resignation as minister after the party's loss on some seats in eastern Rajasthan but the resignation was not accepted.
     The party fielded his brother Jag Mohan on the Dausa seat, which was seen as an effort to pacify Kirodi Meena.
     Bypolls on seven seats were held on November 13 and results were declared on Saturday, in which BJP won five, and Congress and Bharat Adivasi Party won one seat each.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)