Union Minister and two-time MP from Bikaner Arjun Ram Meghwal who defeated his cousin and Congress candidate Madan Gopal Meghwal by 2,64,081 votes is likely to get a second portfolio in Modi Cabinet 2.0 after scoring a hat-trick in the reserved constituency seat.
He grew up in a weaving community, formally entered politics in 2009 after resigning from the Indian Administrative Service and won the Bikaner seat on a BJP ticket the same year. After being re-elected as MP from the same seat, he served as chief whip of the BJP in the 16th Lok Sabha and was also nominated as Chairman of House Committee, Lok Sabha. He was appointed Minister for Finance in 2016. In 2013, Meghwal received the "Best Parliamentarian" award.
The seat of Bikaner had been a BJP stronghold since 2004. After the delimitation process in 2009, the seat became reserved for scheduled castes and Meghwal was elected as MP. However, this time the former IAS officer faced a challenge not from the outside but within the party itself as senior BJP leader Devi Lal Bhati objected to Meghwal's candidacy and even resigned, accusing the latter of being a "Congress agent".
Arjun Ram Meghwal from Rajasthan is among the leaders who have received the call to be a party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new cabinet, hours before he takes oath for a second term in office.
He quoted saying "I got a call. I thank Modi ji. I thank him for placing his trust in me. We have to make India a developed nation. The Prime Minister has called us for tea at his home. We will discuss the roadmap."
Mr Meghwal was among those who met BJP chief Amit Shah at his home on Wednesday night during the process to finalise the government portfolios. The former IAS officer was re-elected from the Bikaner parliamentary seat in the national election for the third time. He secured over 6.5 lakh votes, defeating his cousin Madan Gopal Meghwal of the Congress. Veteran actor Dharmendra had represented Bikaner in 2004.
