Arjun Meghwal: A politician who loves to travel by bicycle

Jaipur, May 31 (IANS) IAS officer-turned-politician Arjun Ram Meghwal, who was retained as minister in the second Modi government, is a politician who loves cycling to work, instead of using a vehicle - a habit he had to stop after becoming a minister in 2016.

Sworn-in as a minister in the Modi government on Thursday, Meghwal, 65, scored a hat trick from Bikaner in the 2019 polls, defeating his cousin and Congress candidate Madan Gopal Meghwal by over 2.64 lakh.

He joined politics in 2009 after resigning from the Indian Administrative Service and was elected from Bikaner in the Lok Sabha elections. In 2013, he was awarded with the Best Parliamentarian Award.

Re-elected in 2014, Meghwal served as BJP's chief whip in the 16th Lok Sabha and was nominated as the Chairman of House Committee, Lok Sabha.

Known for cycling to Parliament, he even used the same form of transport to reach the Rashtrapati Bhavan in 2016 when he was inducted as minister in the Narendra Modi government.

He served as the Union Minister of State in Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation and Parliamentary Affairs, but was stopped from cycling to work as usual due to security concerns.

Meghwal, who grew up in the weaving community, was known as a hardworking bureaucrat and then a popular politician with considerable influence among the Dalits.being loved by his people.

Meghwal made news post-Pulwana attack when he announced that India has stopped water of three eastern rivers flowing to Pakistan and the water was being stored for use by either Punjab or Rajasthan for drinking and irrigation purposes.