Jaipur:

Vehicles were set on fire, stones were thrown at police personnel – who retaliated with a lathi charge and a volley of tear gas shells – and the highway between Tonk and Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan was blocked Thursday afternoon after police arrested ex-Congress leader Naresh Meena.

The violence carried over from late last night, when police tried to arrest Meena – an independent candidate in the Deoli-Uniara by-poll who was caught on camera assaulting a district official.

And what could not be done last night – amid more stone-pelting and arson – was managed this morning, after a “strategic” op by a large team of senior police officers and cops in full riot gear.

Meena confirmed to NDTV he had been picked up by the cops but then “abandoned” after his supporters’ violent reaction. He even claimed to have acted heroically in saving some cops. “I did not run away… the police left me behind due to the stone-pelting. In fact, I saved some policemen.”

#WATCH | Rajasthan by-poll independent candidate from Deoli-Uniara, Naresh Meena allegedly physically assaulted SDM at a polling station in Samravata village

Vehicles vandalised and torched in Samravata village after the incident. pic.twitter.com/dv8jLnymh2

— ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) November 13, 2024

He claimed he spent the night in the village “protected” by his supporters, who were only overcome after a heavy police force swung into action in this morning. The eventual arrest in the afternoon was shortly before he declared “I will not surrender” and told his followers to “surround the police”.

READ | “Won’t Surrender”: Drama As Cops Arrest Naresh Meena In ‘Slap-Gate’

That call was heeded. After his arrest cops and Meena’s supporters clashed on the Tonk-Sawai Madhopur highway amid piles of burning straw, with the latter attacking even journalists.

Ajeet Shekhawat, a reporter for the Press Trust of India, was attacked and his camera and mobile phone were snatched and broken. He was admitted to a local hospital for treatment.

#WATCH | Tonk, Rajasthan: Supporters of Naresh Meena set fire on the state highway outside Samravata village, to protest against this arrest. pic.twitter.com/NU5lX2OP3I

— ANI (@ANI) November 14, 2024

A fresh influx of police was required to re-establish law and order. A top cop told NDTV over 60 people have been arrested so far and “trouble-makers” are being identified and detained.

All of this began Wednesday after Meena assaulted Sub-Divisional Magistrate Amit Choudhary during polling for the Deori-Uniara by-poll; a widely-circulated video showed Meena grabbing Choudhary by the collar and smacking him twice before being restrained by the cops.

VIDEO | Rajasthan Official Slapped By Independent Candidate Outside Booth

But the shocking incident angered state officials, who went on a ‘pen-down’ strike across the state that effectively brought all government work to a standstill. Meena’s assault and the violence it triggered also provoked a political spat between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress.

Former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot hit out at the BJP, claiming the party had encouraged Meena to stand as an independent candidate after he had been suspended by the Congress. Meena was suspended last week over a dispute about the party’s nominee – Kastur Chand Meena.

READ | Days Before By-Poll, Congress Suspends Rebel Leader Naresh Meena

“How did he (Meena) have the courage to do such a thing? This was not a minor incident. When there is no fear among people because they take the law into their hands… this is the situation in the state today,” he said, alleging the BJP had backed Meena’s bid to split its rival’s votes.

However, BJP leader and Rajasthan Agriculture Minister Kirori Lal Meena hit back, claiming Meena had received that encouragement from within the Congress.

Either way, Meena’s arrest has opened a can of worms. On investigating his record, the cops have found 23 cases filed against the former Congress leader, of which only seven have been completed. Most of these cases are about damaging public property and attacking government officials.

Two pertain to the severe assault of a cop and a village chief in his home district.

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New Delhi:

The Congress on Thursday suspended rebel Rajasthan leader Naresh Meena over a dispute about the party’s nominee for next week’s Deoli-Uniara Assembly by-poll. The party’s state in-charge, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, issued an order to that effect Thursday.

Naresh Meena wanted to contest the seat but the party opted to field Kastor Chand Meena.

A disgruntled Naresh Meena then announced he would stand as an independent candidate with support from the Bharat Adivasi Party, triggering talk of the community votes being split.

According to reports Naresh Meena has twice rebelled against the Congress, including once before last year’s Assembly election, when he contested the Chhabra seat as an independent. He got around 44,000 votes, while the Congress’ Karan Rathore lost to the BJP’s Pratap Singhvi by less than 7,000.

The Congress forgave Naresh Meena and re-inducted him before the Lok Sabha election, only for him to kick up a row for the Dausa seat he wanted. On this occasion he agreed to stand down.

The Deoli-Uniara by-poll was triggered after Harish Chandra Meena, who won the seat in the 2018 and 2023 Assembly elections, was elected to the Lok Sabha in the April-June general election.

Deoli-Uniara is within the Tonk Lok Sabha constituency, which Harish Meena won and in which senior Congress leader and ex Deputy Chief Minister, Sachin Pilot, is seen to have significant sway.

The Deoli-Uniara seat was formed for the 2008 Assembly election has been held mostly by the Congress since, with Ram Narayan Meena winning the first poll, followed by Rajendra Gujjar of the Bharatiya Janata Party five years later. In the 2018 and 2023 election Harish Meena won this seat.

In the 2023 election – in which the Congress was dumped out of power by the BJP – Harish Meena scored nearly 20,000 votes more than the saffron party’s Vijay Bainsla.

Seven Assembly seats in Rajasthan will hold by-polls next week.

These seven are Jhunjhunu, Dausa, Khinvsar, Chaurasi, Salumbar, and Ramgarh, apart from Deoli-Uniara. Voting will be on November 13 and the results will be announced November 23.

With input from PTI

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