Rajasthan polls: Voting deadline extended after High Court intervention in Tijara; Congress candidate wins
Jaipur: The political tussle over the Tijara Municipal Council Chairperson election, which began on Monday morning, continued late into the night. Following intervention by the Rajasthan High Court, the voting deadline was extended, first to 8 p.m. and later to 10 p.m., amid delays in councilors reaching the polling station. The election result was declared after 10 p.m. with Congress candidate Ramavatar Saini winning the Chairperson’s post with 18 votes.
Returning Officer and SDM Divya handed him the certificate of election.
The Tijara Municipal Council has 35 councilors, and 18 votes were required to secure the Chairperson’s post.
The dispute reached the Rajasthan High Court following allegations that Congress-backed councilors were stopped in Haryana while returning from a camp in Himachal Pradesh.
Congress leaders alleged that the councilors were intercepted near Panchkula while entering Haryana and were unable to reach Tijara in time for the scheduled voting. The matter was heard by a single Bench of the Rajasthan High Court presided over by Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand.
The court directed the ADM of Bhiwadi to submit a report on the incident to the State Election Commission. Following the developments, the voting deadline was extended to allow the election process to continue.
Voting, initially scheduled until 8 p.m., was subsequently extended until 10 p.m. because of delays in the arrival of the councilors.
The State Election Commission’s instructions stated that if all councilors completed voting before 10 p.m., counting would begin immediately after polling concluded.
Earlier, at around 3:30 a.m. on Monday, former MLA Sandeep Yadav, District Congress President Balram Yadav, and Congress candidate Ramavatar Saini, accompanied by party workers, reached the Returning Officer’s residence.
They demanded that the election be postponed until the detained councilors were brought safely to Tijara. A complaint was subsequently lodged with Tijara police station SHO Jaiprakash.
Congress leaders claimed that some councilors had expressed concerns through video messages, saying they had been taken to an undisclosed location and feared for their safety.
Congress workers later staged a protest near the police station. Congress leaders also alleged that former MLA Sandeep Yadav was detained for several hours at Farrukhnagar near Gurugram.
The police version of events regarding the allegation had not been released at the time of the filing of the report. The Congress questioned the circumstances surrounding the alleged detention of the councilors, while the developments surrounding the election were taken up before the Rajasthan High Court and the State Election Commission.
On Monday morning, former MLA Sandeep Yadav, District Congress President Balram Yadav, Congress candidate Ramavatar Saini, Block President Dharmpal Gurjar, and Deputy Pradhan Dayaram Chavda, along with women and other party workers, gathered near the police station.
The protesters raised slogans demanding that the councilors be brought safely to Tijara and allowed to participate in the election.
By 2 p.m., reports indicated that 16 of the 35 councilors had cast their votes. Meanwhile, the matter was taken up by the Rajasthan High Court.
In compliance with the State Election Commission’s order, voting for the Tijara Municipal Council Chairperson election was allowed to continue until 10 p.m.. The order stated that if all councilors completed voting before the deadline, counting would begin immediately after polling ended.
The election result was subsequently declared after 10 p.m., with Ramavatar Saini securing the Chairperson post with 18 votes.