Cong's Pramod Jain Bhaya wins Anta bypoll in Rajasthan
Jaipur(PTI): Congress candidate Pramod Jain Bhaya won the Anta assembly bypoll in Rajasthan's Baran district with 69,571 votes, defeating his nearest rival and BJP nominee Morpal Suman by a margin of 15,612 votes, according to the Election Commission.
Suman got 53,959 votes, beating Independent candidate and Congress rebel Naresh Meena, who was initially in second place, by 159 votes in a tantalisingly close contest.
Bhaya maintained his lead throughout.
A total of 15 candidates were in the fray.
The bypoll was necessitated after BJP MLA Kanwar Lal Meena was disqualified following his conviction in a criminal case. Kanwar Lal Meena defeated Bhaya, the then minister in the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government, in the 2023 assembly polls.
Bhaya attributed his bypoll victory to a shift in voters' mood.
"In the last elections, people were misled by the BJP's assurances, but this time, they have blessed us with their trust," he told reporters in Baran.
Bhaya's victory comes as a shot in the arm for the Congress and an embarrassment for the ruling BJP.
"I salute the people of Anta for ensuring the Congress' victory. This was the BJP government's two-year test and it failed," Pradesh Congress Committee chief Govind Singh Dotasra said here.
"Voters have delivered a strong message ahead of the 2028 assembly elections. I am confident that the Congress will win the 2028 polls," he said.
Dotasra said Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma campaigned twice in Anta, ministers stayed there and senior BJP leader Vasundhara Raje also had a camp in the constituency, but people voted for the Congress.
Former chief minister Ashok Gehlot said the bypoll result shows that anti-incumbency has set in against the BJP just two years after it came to power in the state.
"I extend my heartfelt thanks to all the voters for ensuring the Congress' victory in the Anta bypoll and hearty congratulations to the newly-elected MLA Pramod Jain Bhaya," Gehlot said.
The BJP government failed to highlight even a single concrete achievement, he said.
"The common man is deeply distressed due to the weakening of our popular public welfare schemes, and this result is people's stamp of approval on the schemes run by the previous Congress government," he said.
The Anta constituency, part of the politically volatile Hadoti belt -- a region long considered Raje's turf -- has a history of swinging between the BJP and the Congress. The BJP held the seat in 2013 and 2023, while Bhaya won it for the Congress in 2008 and 2018.
Raje's son and Jhalawar-Baran MP Dushyant Singh was also actively engaged in election management in the constituency.
Sharma and Raje together held roadshows in Anta and several ministers and senior BJP leaders also campaigned in the constituency. However, it appears they were not able to strike a chord with voters.
With Friday's result, BJP holds 118 seats in the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly, Congress 67, Bharat Adivasi Party four, Bahujan Samaj Party two and Rashtriya Lok Dal one.
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Tripura student's partner put sanitiser in her private parts, filmed her nude: Gurugram police
Gurugram (PTI): Days after a 19-year-old woman from Tripura was hospitalised in a serious condition following an assault by her live-in partner, police on Sunday said that the accused also burned her private parts using sanitiser and filmed her nude.
The woman’s mother alleged that the accused, who befriended her daughter online and had promised to marry her, confined her to a room for three days and even forced her to drink urine.
According to police, the woman’s condition is now stable.
The accused, Shivam (19), a resident of Delhi’s Narela, was arrested on Thursday based on an FIR registered against him at the Badshahpur police station.
The woman’s mother, a police officer in Tripura, claimed that on February 16, around 10 pm, she received a distress call from her daughter.
My daughter told me, "I don't have time, I will be killed... Shivam has been beating me and burning me for the last three days. He will kill me today."
The mother further alleged that the accused confined her daughter to a room for three days and tortured her. She also accused Shivam of forcing her daughter to drink urine and burning her private parts using sanatiser.
She said the accused also stabbed her daughter multiple times.
The mother then approached the Gurugram police, who rescued her daughter.
"My daughter is very bright in her studies. She had come to Gurugram to study. However, Shivam lured her into a trap through an online app. My daughter's condition is very serious,” she said, adding that strict action should be taken against the accused.
Earlier, police said that Shivam had allegedly established physical relations with the woman who is a college student, promising her marriage.
The couple had been living together in a paying guest accommodation in Sector 69 for the last few months. During this period, he allegedly began assaulting her after suspecting her of cheating.
A Gurugram Police spokesperson said the case has been marked for close monitoring.
“Charges of rape and assault have already been added to the FIR, and the accused has been sent to jail. Further investigation is underway,” he said.
The spokesperson added that the woman’s condition is now stable.
Police had said that on February 19, the couple had an altercation after which the accused assaulted the woman, severely injuring her. Upon receiving a call from her mother police reached the flat and rescued her.
The accused allegedly attacked the victim in a fit of rage, suspecting her of cheating on him, police had said.
The woman was initially admitted to AIIMS-Delhi and is currently undergoing treatment at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi, police said.
