india

Updated: Jun 02, 2019 13:08 IST

Chief minister Ashok Gehlot has refused to accept the resignation of agriculture minister Lalchand Kataria, saying that after the Congress’ defeat in the recent Lok Sabha elections, it is the moral responsibility of the party leaders to work harder.

Kataria had announced his resignation last Sunday and the purported resignation letter was circulated on social media, following which he has gone incommunicado. In the resignation letter, he said that he took moral responsibility for the defeat on the Jaipur Rural Lok Sabha constituency, for which he was the party in-charge.

Congress MLA Krishna Poonia lost the seat to BJP’S sitting MP Rajyavardhan Rathore by a margin of over 3.5 lakh votes.

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Kataria met the chief minister at the latter’s residence Friday evening and reiterated his desire to resign, but Gehlot rejected it, sources said.

According to a chief minister office (CMO) source, Gehlot rejected his resignation saying that at a time when the Congress has fared poorly in the Lok Sabha election, greater responsibility devolves on leaders to accept challenges and participate in delivering good governance in the state.

Earlier, the chief minister’s office and Raj Bhavan had denied having received any resignation letter from Kataria. Kataria was elected to the Lok Sabha from Jaipur Rural, in 2009.

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