'BJP will win by big margin in Bikaner': Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal speaks to WION

Despite a jam-packed agenda leading up to the Lok Sabha elections, the Law Minister of India, Arjun Ram Meghwal, spared some momentto speak to WION, right after hefinished his morning breakfast at his residence in Bikaner in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan.

The conversation quickly kicked off with the 70-year-old minister expressing absolute confidence in his victory as the BJP has fielded a leader, belonging to the Dalit community, from the Lok Sabha constituency of Bikaner.

"BJP is winning by a big margin from this constituency. If you check the ground mood, you will know that the contest is one-sided," the minister said adding, "I am 100 percent confident that I will win."

When asked about the issues that would influence the voting decisions of the people of Bikaner, the minister said that development and good governance were the sole concerns guiding their choices.

"Development is our orientation and with good governance, we want to provide residents of the city with ease of living," said the law minister.

Meghwal was the BJP’s Chief Whip in the lower house of the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha) in 2015. In May 2023, Meghwal replaced Kiren Rijiju and took charge as the Union Minister for Law and Justice.

As the minister seeks another term as a Member of Parliament, #ModiKaArjun is trending on every post of the minister on X. He busy travellingacross the city as part of his campaigndrive.

When asked if the people of Bikaner will vote for him or if they will vote in the name of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Meghwal said, "Modi ji is our leader. We are the members of Modi ji's team."

Notably, Meghwal is pitched against Govind Ram Meghwal from Congress. Both areagain face-to-face after a long gap of 15 years.

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When asked if the Congress candidate would be able to break his winning streak, the minister said, "he could not even win the assembly elections. He was the cabinet minister under the Congress government."

Pending court cases

The law minister also responded to the pressing issue of the pending cases in the courts of India - over 5 crores.

The minister said, "I have reiterated this many times that the highest priority of our government is to resolve the pending cases in a timely fashion. We have changed the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to Bhartiya Nyay Samhita (BNS) and introduced Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS)."

"We are also trying to achieve time-bound completion of cases. We are working on how to use the technology for all this. You will know everything in July," the minister added.

Arjun Ram Meghwal is known for his trademark Rajasthani turban.Prior to him being promoted to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the minister served as a Rajasthan Administrative Services (RAS) officer. Leading up to the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, Meghwal opted for voluntary retirement to stand as a candidate from the Bikaner parliamentary constituency on a BJP ticket.