Arjun Ram Meghwal defeated his cousin and Congress candidate Madangopal Meghwal in elections.

Former IAS officer Arjun Ram Meghwal defeated his cousin, an ex-IPS officer, in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections to make it to the Parliament.

He was sworn in as minister of state (MoS) today after being elected to the Lok Sabha for the third consecutive time from Rajasthan's Bikaner.

He defeated his cousin and Congress candidate Madangopal Meghwal.

Arjun Ram Meghwal was made Union minister of state for finance and cooperative affairs in July 2017 in a cabinet reshuffle.

He took charge as Union minister of state for parliamentary affairs, water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation in September 2017.

Born in a family of weavers at Kishmidesar village in Bikaner, Mr Meghwal was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 2009. He is a law graduate and did his MBA from the University of Philippines.

The BJP MP had persistently pursued the alleged illegal land deals of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's brother-in-law Robert Vadra in Bikaner, when the Congress was in power in the state from 2008 to 2013.

Mr Meghwal remained the BJP's chief whip in the Lok Sabha around this time. He has been a member of various parliamentary panels like standing committees on defence and railways.