Voting in the bypolls for seven Assembly seats in Rajasthan was underway on Wednesday when an incident came to light involving an Independent candidate for the Deoli-Uniara Assembly seat, who allegedly slapped a Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) won election duty.
The incident, which took place at Samravata polling station, was caught on camera.
In the video, Independent candidate Naresh Meena enters the polling booth and slaps SDM Amit Choudhary.
Meena, a former Congress leader now contesting as an Independent, allegedly caught the SDM of Malpura by his collar and slapped him, an official said.
Police later took Meena out of the polling booth.
District election officer and Tonk Collector Saumya Jha said residents of Samravta village had announced a boycott of the bypoll.
“The village currently comes under the Nagar Fort Tehsil. The villagers are demanding that the village be brought under the Uniara Tehsil, which is nearer,” she said.
Meena supported the villagers' call to boycott the polls.
When Chaudhary, the area magistrate for the bypoll, visited the village to convince people to vote, Meena allegedly slapped him, Jha said.
Regarding the villagers' demand, Jha said it was raised a few days ago, and they were informed that the matter would be taken up after the model code of conduct was lifted.
Recently, Meena was suspended by the Congress for running as an Independent candidate after the party nominated Kastor Chand Meena for the Deoli-Uniara by-election.
The by-election for the Deoli-Uniara seat was necessitated after Congress leader Harish Chandra Meena vacated it to serve in the Lok Sabha after the general elections in 2024.
As of 11 am on Wednesday, close to 25 per cent of votes were cast in the bypolls for the seven assembly seats in Rajasthan, an election department official said.
Ramgarh saw 28.97 per cent voter turnout in the first four hours, with 23.12 per cent turnout in Jhunjhunu, 20.43 per cent in Dausa, 22.69 per cent in Deoli-Uniara, 26.42 per cent in Chorasi, 26.67 per cent in Khinvsar and 25.26 per cent in Salumbar.
According to the official, 24.83 per cent of votes were cast till 9 am.
Voting on these seven seats will continue until 6 pm. The counting of votes is scheduled for November 23.
