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New Delhi: In a surprise move on Thursday, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju was dropped from the Department of Law and Justice, which was handed over to Arjun Ram Meghwal. Rijiju has been given the Ministry of Earth Sciences. Rijiju has been a vocal critic of the way Supreme Court and High Court judges are appointed by a collegium, calling it “unconstitutional”. He also courted controversy by accusing some retired judges of being anti-India. Speculations are rife in political circles about the reason behind this move. Some see Meghwal’s promotion as a big signal for Rajasthan ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.
10 things to know about Arjun Ram Meghwal:
1. Arjun Singh Meghwal is a bureaucrat turned politician. He is a three-time Lok Sabha member from Bikaner.
2. Meghwal, who is the Minister of State, has been given the additional responsibility of being the Minister of State with independent charge in the Ministry of Law and Justice. He also holds the portfolios of Parliamentary Affairs and Culture as Minister of State.
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3. With his appointment, the top leadership of the party has tried to bring in a fresh face who is non-controversial and well-educated. He is said to be the favorite of the Modi-Shah team.
4. A three-time Lok Sabha member from Bikaner, Meghwal is only the third person to hold the Law and Justice portfolio as Minister of State with independent charge.
5. The top leadership of BJP has tried to tap into the SC segment through this move. After decades, a leader from the Scheduled Castes has been given the portfolio of Law Minister.
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6. He is the person who knows how to control his anger and till date he has never given any controversial statement.
7. Meanwhile, as the assembly elections in Rajasthan draw near, BJP wants to give a big message by campaigning for Arjun Ram Meghwal. BJP has suffered losses on reserved assembly seats in Karnataka.
8. In such a situation, BJP is trying to strengthen its hold on the safe seats of Rajasthan. Recently, Arjun Ram Meghwal took over the entire responsibility of PM Modi’s program in the state.
9. In such a situation, one more thing is being said that this promotion of Meghwal is indicating that he can be fielded in the assembly elections to be held in Rajasthan.
10. Meghwal is the MP for the third time in this term. He won for the first time in 2009 by a margin of 19,575. Since then the margin of his victory has been increasing. In 2014, the Bharatiya Janata Party fielded Arjun Ram Meghwal from the Bikaner seat, where he won the election by over three lakh votes. For the third time in a row Ram Meghwal won the election from Bikaner Loksabha seat by 2,640,00 votes.
