Gehlot rejects resignation of Agriculture minister Lalchand Kataria

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot has rejected the resignation of state agriculture minister Lalchand Kataria, who had offered to quit following the poor results of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha polls in the state.

Gehlot said Kataria had made his mind to resign after the party's defeat in the elections but he was convinced that the Congress did not face the rout in his area alone.

"I told him that there is no need to resign. The Congress party faced defeat on most of the seats in the country," he told reporters in Bhilwara.

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

"The CM rejected the resignation and asked him to continue and play role in delivering good governance," a chief minister's office source said.

On Sunday last, the minister had announced his desire to resign and a purported resignation letter was circulated on social media.

However, the chief minister's office and the Raj Bhavan had refused having received any such letter.