Phone tapping charges: Sent reply on mistake mentioned in BJP's show cause notice, says Rajasthan minister Meena

Jaipur: Rajasthan minister Kirodi Lal Meena on Wednesday said he has sent his response to the show cause notice sent by his party for alleging in a public meeting recently that his phone was being tapped by the state government.

While he did not disclose the content of his reply, Meena acknowledged a "mistake" mentioned in the show cause notice sent on Monday.

"I have sent my reply for the mistake I made. I replied yesterday (Tuesday) itself. The mistake is mentioned in the show notice given by the party's state president," the agriculture minister told reporters.

Meena added that now it is not for him or any minister or the chief minister to speak on the matter, only the party president's place to speak on it. "He has already said that it is the party's internal matter." The party, in its show cause notice, had said that Meena's statement "tarnished" the reputation of the government. Considering it as indiscipline, the party asked Meena to submit a reply within three days.

"You are a member of the BJP and have been elected MLA from 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 stated.

After Meena made the phone-tapping claim, the opposition Congress had raised the issue in the Rajasthan Assembly, causing embarrassment to the BJP government.

The Congress had demanded Chief Minister Bhajanlal 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.

On Tuesday, BJP state president Rathore said it was an internal matter of the party and it would resolve it "within the family".