On Friday (26th April), clashes erupted between the supporters of the Independent candidate from Rajasthan’s Barmer Lok Sabha seat Ravindra Singh Bhati and Congress candidate Ummeda Ram Beniwal during voting today. Due to the clashes, the voting process was halted for around half an hour in the Sheo assembly constituency. The two sides clashed at around 3 pm today following which IG Vikas Kumar and Baytu MLA Harish Chaudhary reached the spot.
Ravindra Singh Bhati alleged that tapes were being pasted in front of his name on the EVMs. Meanwhile, Congress leader Ummeda Ram Beniwal’s supporters accused the supporters of Bhati of booth capturing.
Earlier in the day, Bhati had alleged that the vehicles of supporters were being deliberately stopped by the administration. Bhati claimed that his polling agent was thrown out of the booth in Baytu.
“My agents are being thrown out of the booths in Baytu assembly and a strip is being put on my name on the voting machine. What kind of democracy is this? Under whose pressure is the administration working?” Bhati wrote on X today.
बायतु विधानसभा के अंदर मेरे एजेंटों को बूथो से बाहर निकाला जा रहा है और वोटिंग मशीन पर मेरे नाम पर पट्टी लगाई जा रही है। यह कैसा लोकतंत्र है? आखिर प्रशासन किसके दबाव में काम कर रहा है। @ECISVEEP @Barmer_Police @BarmerDm @RajPoliceHelp
— Ravindra Singh Bhati (@RavindraBhati__) April 26, 2024
Meanwhile, two sides clashed at Mahabar village, Sadar police station area, Barmer district after a dispute leaving two youths injured. After this, Barmer SP arrived at the spot. According to SP Narendra Singh Meena, a clash broke out between two parties adding that two people have been detained. Two people were hurt and taken to the hospital.
In a triangular contest in the Barmer Lok Sabha constituency, Bhati is pitted against BJP MP and Union minister Kailash Choudhary and the Congress’s Ummeda Ram Beniwal.
As reported earlier, Ravindra Singh Bhati, MLA from Sheo has emerged as a popular leader in Rajasthan. He was with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) before the Rajasthan Assembly Elections in 2023. However, he left the party and contested the elections as an independent candidate after the BJP denied him a ticket. Bhati won the Sheo Assembly Constituency by a substantial margin and later announced he would challenge for Lok Sabha Elections as an independent candidate from the Barmer constituency. Bhati was recently in controversy over meeting several anti-India elements including Nitasha Kaul and Dibyesh Anand.
