Rajasthan Minister Surendra Pal Singh Resigns From Cabinet After Poll Defeat In Karanpur

Rajasthan News: Surendra Pal Singh, the BJP candidate in Karanpur, faced an embarrassing defeat leading to his resignation from the state cabinet.

Rajasthan state minister Surendra Pal Singh on Monday tendered his resignation from the cabinet after facing a defeat in the Karanpur assembly election. The announcement was made by Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma. "Surendra Pal Singh, BJP candidate from the Karanpur constituency, graciously accepts the public mandate and tenders his resignation from the ministerial post," he posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Surendra Pal Singh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate, faced an embarrassing defeat in the Karanpur constituency, losing to his Congress rival by a margin of 11,283 votes.

He had been inducted into the Bhajanlal Sharma cabinet on December 30, 2022, ahead of the polling on January 5. He was assigned the portfolios of Agriculture Marketing Board, Indira Gandhi Canal Department, and Minority Affairs Department.

Under the stipulated rules, Singh was required to secure election as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) within six months of assuming office as a minister.

According to the chief electoral office, Congress candidate Rupinder Singh Koonar secured 94,950 votes, while Singh trailed with 83,667 votes. Koonar's victory was decisive, with 18 rounds of counting conducted.

This marks the second electoral defeat for Surendra Pal Singh in the Karanpur constituency. He had previously lost to Koonar's father, Gurmeet Singh, in the 2018 Rajasthan assembly elections.

According to PTI, Koonar expressed gratitude to the voters, "I am thankful to the people of Karanpur who voted for me... even central ministers had come for campaigning (but) people rejected them and made democracy win."

Former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot extending his congratulations to the Congress candidate said, "The people of Karanpur have defeated the pride of the BJP".

Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra, in a post on social media, asserted, "The public has taught a lesson to the BJP, which flouted the code of conduct and morality by making its candidate a minister during the elections. When the constitutional institutions of the country forget their responsibilities, then justice is done in the public court. This mandate is a slap on the BJP's dictatorship and undemocratic policy."