Congress rebel leader Naresh Meena, accused of slapping a Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) during the Assembly by-election at Deoli-Uniara in November 2024, surrendered at Nagar Fort police station in Rajasthan’s Tonk district on Thursday following the cancellation of his bail. His bail was cancelled last month on the ground of violation of conditions.
The police produced Mr. Meena, 45, in the court of the Special Judge (SC/ST Atrocities) in Tonk, which remanded him to judicial custody. A large number of Mr. Meena’s supporters raised slogans outside the police station and the court, while the administration imposed prohibitory orders to prevent any untoward incident.
The Rajasthan High Court had granted conditional bail to Mr. Meena on July 11, 2025, after nearly nine months in jail. The Special SC/ST Court in Tonk cancelled the bail on July 13 this year, citing violation of conditions after his subsequent arrest during a protest in Jhalawar, and issued arrest warrants against him.
As the court directed the police to arrest Mr. Meena and produce him by Thursday, he himself surrendered at the police station, travelling from Jaipur in a procession of his supporters. The rebel leader’s supporters accused the Bharatiya Janata Party government of trying to curb his growing popularity by keeping him behind bars ahead of the upcoming Panchayati Raj elections.
Contesting as an independent candidate in the bypoll, Mr. Meena had allegedly slapped SDM Amit Chaudhary at a polling station in Samrawata village on November 13, 2024, while claiming irregularities in voting. Mr. Meena accused the SDM of forcing the villagers to cast their votes despite their boycott call and taking at least three fake voters inside the polling booth.
During the violence and arson which erupted after the incident, two dozen two-wheelers and 18 four-wheelers, including police vehicles, were torched. Senior police officers from Tonk, who arrived in full gear, arrested Mr. Meena from a dharna site in Samrawata the next day, while his supporters created a ruckus and blocked several roads in Tonk district.
The villagers at Samrawata had announced boycott of polling in support of their demand to shift their village from Nagar Fort to Uniara tehsil in the revenue records because of the distance issue. BJP’s Rajendra Gurjar defeated Mr. Meena by a margin of 41,121 votes in the by-election.
Mr. Meena, since suspended by the Opposition Congress, also unsuccessfully contested the Assembly by-election at Anta in Baran district in November 2025, where he made the fight triangular. Congress candidate Pramod Jain won the Assembly seat, while Mr. Meena stood a close third with just 159 votes less than the BJP candidate, Morpal Suman.
Published – August 07, 2026 01:39 am IST
