• Source:JND

Ahead of by-polls on seven seats in Rajasthan on November 13, the Congress on Thursday suspended Rajasthan leader Naresh Meena following a dispute over the party's candidate selection for the upcoming Deoli-Uniara Assembly by-election. 

Naresh Meena, who had expressed his desire to contest the seat, was sidelined as the party chose Kastor Chand Meena as its nominee. In response, Naresh Meena declared his intention to stand as an independent candidate, with backing from the Bharat Adivasi Party. The order of Meena’s suspension was issued by Rajasthan in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.

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Naresh Meena earlier rebelled against Congress during the 2023 Assembly elections, when he contested the Chhabra seat as an independent candidate, securing around 44,000 votes—an outcome that contributed to the Congress's defeat by less than 7,000 votes to BJP's Pratap Singhvi. 

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Despite this, the Congress re-inducted Meena ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, only for him to demand the Dausa seat, eventually agreeing to step aside after much controversy. 

The by-polls in Deoli-Uniara Assembly were necessitated after Harish Chandra Meena, who won the seat in the 2018 and 2023 Assembly elections, was elected to the Lok Sabha in the April-June general election.

The byelections in Rajasthan will be held in Jhunjhunu, Dausa, Deoli-Uniara, Khinvsar, Chaurasi, Salumbar and Ramgarh on November 13, and the results will be announced on November 23.

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