Jaipur: A youth was killed and several others injured in clashes involving supporters of sarpanch candidates in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu, Sikar and Jalore districts amid polling for the third phase of Panchayati Raj elections Thursday. While supporters of rival candidates clashed with sticks in Jhunjhunu Wednesday night, a sarpanch candidate was allegedly assaulted by his opponent and around 50 supporters in Sikar. In Jalore, police resorted to a lathi charge to disperse two groups that clashed over alleged bogus voting.Polling was held for 3,716 sarpanch and 34,218 ward panch posts, with a turnout of 82.3% recorded till 6 pm. Over 1.06 crore voters across 27 districts were eligible to vote in the third phase.The fatal clash took place in Delsar village of Nawalgarh in Jhunjhunu district on Wednesday night. Supporters of two sarpanch candidates attacked each other with sticks, leaving a youth from Hoshiarpur in Punjab dead and two others injured. Police seized several vehicles and detained some people for questioning. The injured were referred to a higher medical centre.In Sikar’s Bhojya Ki Dhani panchayat, candidate Arun Pareek was allegedly assaulted by rival candidate Kishor Kumar Kumawat and around 50 of his supporters. Pareek, who suffered injuries to his neck and other parts of the body, was admitted to SK Hospital.His wife Rajni alleged that Kumawat had threatened Pareek earlier in the day and that the attackers broke his gold chain and attempted to assault her. She further alleged that her husband was attacked on his chest and private parts.In Chitalwana, Jalore, supporters of a sarpanch candidate accused a rival candidate of facilitating bogus voting and staged a protest outside a polling station. The dispute escalated when some people allegedly entered the booth and attempted to disrupt voting. Police resorted to a lathi charge and detained 12 people.Similar protests over alleged bogus voting were reported from Bhupalsagar gram panchayat in Chittorgarh, where police used force to disperse villagers after the returning officer reached the spot. In Ratanpur gram panchayat under Nohar panchayat samiti in Hanumangarh, supporters of sarpanch candidates also clashed.In Sami village of Sikar, tension prevailed after a youth allegedly pelted stones at a vehicle passing through the village. Police said the vehicle belonged to an outsider, and the matter was being investigated. Police and Dhod SDM reached the spot, and the situation was brought under control.Meanwhile, polling for the sarpanch post was not held in Ludi Jhabar gram panchayat under Rajgarh panchayat samiti in Churu after the sole nomination was rejected. The seat had been reserved for the Scheduled Tribe category, but no eligible candidate was available in the village. Voting was held for the remaining three ward panch posts, with four of the seven candidates already elected unopposed.
