The atmosphere at the Deoli-Uniara assembly constituency byelection turned tense when independent candidate Naresh Meena slapped Malpura SDM Amit Chaudhary, who was on duty. This incident sparked widespread outrage across the state. In response, officials from the RAS Association met with Chief Electoral Officer Naveen Mahajan, demanding the immediate arrest of Naresh Meena. Meanwhile, Tehsildars and Patwaris have threatened to go on a work strike if Meena is not arrested. As of the time of reporting, Naresh Meena has yet to be arrested. If no action is taken soon, both the RAS officials and the Tehsildars and Patwaris are prepared to intensify their protest.
In fact, while opposing the forced voting in Samarwata village of Gram Panchayat Kachrawata of Nagarfort Tehsil, Meena accused the administration of bias. The situation escalated when Chaudhary and Meena got into a confrontation, and in a fit of anger, Meena slapped him. After this, he started a sit-in against the administration. Seeing the matter escalating, the administration called additional police force on the spot and controlled the situation. After the incident, the police converted the village into a cantonment. Police force was deployed around the village. No one other than the local residents, was allowed to enter the village. Meanwhile, the independent candidate and the villagers staged a sit-in protest late into the night, with police forces surrounding them. Villagers protest election, demand Samarwata’s reorganisation In Samarwata, the villagers boycotted the election on Wednesday by protesting to remove Samarwata from Nagarfort Tehsil and adding it to the subdivision Uniara. On receiving the information of the boycott by the villagers, Meena reached the spot and sat on dharna with them. The officers who reached the spot tried to reason with the villagers, but the matter could not be resolved and kept on escalating.
Superintendent of Police Vikas Sangwan, ADM Malpura Vinod Kumar Meena, ASP Brijendra Singh Bhati, ASP Geeta, Acting Nagarfort Tehsildar Narendra Bapdiya reasoned with the villagers amidst the uproar. After this, the voting commenced. The administration assured the villagers that this matter will be conveyed to the government. After this, the villagers ended the protest and voting started at 3:45 pm.
Rajasthan Administrative Service Council threatens work boycott
Meanwhile, regarding the case, Rajasthan Administrative Service Council President Mahavir Kharari said, “We called an emergency meeting of the association. It has been decided in this that if Naresh Meena is not arrested by Thursday morning, then there will be a complete work boycott in the state.”
He said that the RAS Association has got the support of IAS officers as well as Tehsildar, Secretariat Employees Union and Patwaris. It is indecent to beat up an officer in this way.
Om Prakash, Range IG, Ajmer stated, “Further action will be taken in this case after the election process is over. A special police team will be formed, and Naresh Meena can be arrested by late night. The police will take impartial action in the matter.”
Vikas Sangwan, Superintendent of Police, Tonk added that, “During the election boycott in Samarwata village, the administration and police officials explained to the villagers. Independent candidate Naresh Meena came running to the polling booth and assaulted the Magistrate Amit Chaudhary. Appropriate action will be taken on the incident that happened during this.”
Meena justified, “The villagers had boycotted the election. I was explaining to the villagers, but the SDM was forcibly getting the votes of the employees’ families cast, while we were boycotting the election.”
Clash erupts in Kalan village over alleged fake voting
Meanwhile, a fight broke out in Kalan village of Jhunjhunu over the issue of fake voting. According to the information, when the agent of independent candidate Rajendra Gudha tried to stop the fake voter of another candidate, a dispute broke out between the two. The polling party reached the spot and handled the situation. Former minister Rajendra Singh Gudha accused the administration of permitting fake voting and said that the administration and the police are hand in glove.