Jaipur: Former BJP MLA Attar Singh Bhadana (68), who was allegedly killed in a violent clash with villagers in the Weir police station area of Bharatpur district, had been embroiled in a long-running dispute over a silica stone mining lease in Bhaonda village.The former Bayana MLA, who also served as state president of BJP Kisan Morcha, faced repeated protests over alleged illegal mining and the use of grazing land to access the lease site.The 124-hectare mining lease was held in the name of his family member. Villagers had repeatedly objected to vehicles using grazing land to reach the site, alleging that no designated access road existed. The dispute had triggered several protests and led to suspension of mining operations on multiple occasions. Villagers also alleged that blasting at the site caused them problems and people grazing cattle were sometimes injured by stones hurled into the air.A local resident recalled, “On Feb 17, 2025, Bharatpur MP Bhajan Lal Jatav submitted a memorandum to the district collector over allegations of illegal mining at the lease. Villagers staged a dharna for around 20 days, which ended after Jatav visited the site and a complaint was made.”“An FIR was registered at Weir police station on Feb 1 due to the dispute in a separate incident by Chandra Ram, a resident of Bhonda village, after he accused mine owner and her employees of attacking him and opening fire,” said another local resident.Bhadana contested his first assembly election from Bayana on a BJP ticket in 1998 but lost. He won the seat in 2003. After his election, he bought a farmhouse in Shergarh village and began living there.During the Gurjar reservation agitation in the first tenure of Vasundhara Raje govt, Bhadana opposed govt’s position. In 2008, he contested the assembly election from Nagar on a Congress ticket but lost. He subsequently returned to Haryana before rejoining BJP, later serving as the state president of its Kisan Morcha.Bhadana is survived by a son and four daughters. His son, Arjun Singh Bhadana, is an advocate in Supreme Court. His youngest daughter, Kiran Bhadana, is a 2017-batch IAS officer serving as deputy commissioner (Law and Security) in Lahaul and Spiti, Himachal Pradesh. Of his other three daughters, one is a doctor and two are homemakers.
