Rajasthan Minister Kirodi Lal Meena on Wednesday replied to a show cause notice issued by the BJP's state unit president Madan Rathore for "tarnishing" the state government's reputation by alleging in a public meeting recently that his phone was being tapped.
In his reply on email, Meena said that he had received input that his phone was being tapped, but he did not tell this to anyone in the media.
"I have always worked for the party, and I am a disciplined soldier of the party," he asserted.
Congress demands CM Bhajan Lal Sharma's resignation
After Meena made the phone-tapping claim, the opposition Congress raised the issue in the Rajasthan Assembly, causing embarrassment to the BJP government.
The Congress had demanded Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma's resignation over the allegation, and 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 the 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 show-cause notice, served under the directions of the party's national president, asked Meena to submit his reply within three days, BJP leaders said.
After the party's below-expectation result in the Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan, Meena resigned from his ministerial post. He informed the media about his resignation during a religious programme on July 4 in Jaipur.
Meena had said that he had sent his resignation to the Chief Minister in June, but he did not accept it. Meena continued to deal with departmental files as a minister, but he did not attend Cabinet meetings.
(With agencies inputs)