Jaipur: In yet another move against a key player in the state’s urban local body leadership contest, the sitting independent MLA from Hanumangarh, Ganeshraj Bansal, was arrested Sunday on the eve of Monday’s elections for mayors and municipal council chairpersons across Rajasthan.While senior law-enforcement officials declined to disclose either details of the arrest or the specific charges against Bansal, sources in the police department said he was taken into custody by a joint team of CID-CB and local police while he was travelling from Hanumangarh to Bikaner late Saturday night. He was formally placed under arrest later.Police sources cited multiple criminal cases against Bansal and members of his family as the basis for his arrest, with the latest relating to the alleged encroachment of a piece of govt land, over which he had been served notices recently.News of the arrest came amid a high-stakes struggle for control of the Hanumangarh Municipal Council that was triggered after independent candidates backed by Bansal managed to win 32 of the council’s 60 seats, leaving both BJP, with 15 seats, and Congress with 10, woefully behind.The timing of the arrest triggered protests and widespread political speculation in Hanumangarh, where Bansal’s camp has fielded its own candidate for the chairperson’s post. The 32 councillors backed by him are crucial to the outcome of Monday’s election.Bansal’s arrest comes close on the heels of another contentious election-eve move by the govt.In Nagaur district’s Kuchera, the Congress’s candidate for local body head, Tejpal Mirdha, approached the Rajasthan High Court after the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) registered an FIR against him, days before Monday’s election for municipal council chairperson, in a case that goes back to 2018.In an urgent hearing of his plea Sunday, the HC restrained the ACB from arresting Mirdha till the next hearing of the case.While officials in the police department continue to maintain that the action against Bansal is linked to pending criminal cases against him, local political circles viewed the arrest as an attempt to influence the balance of numbers in Hanumangarh Municipal Council ahead of Monday’s election.News of the arrest triggered protests in the city by the MLA’s supporters, including independent councillors and local traders.Under the rules, only CID-CB can probe criminal cases against MLAs in Rajasthan.GFXAttempt To Influence Electoral Outcomes?Independent candidates backed by Ganeshraj Bansal won 32 of 60 Hanumangarh wards, leaving BJP with 15 and Cong with 10The balance of numbers made his group critical to deciding the outcome of the election for city’s municipal council chairpersonThis is the 2nd case of state govt initiating law-enforcement action against a key player in the state’s ULB leadership contestEarlier, ACB had registered a case against Cong candidate for local body head in Nagaur district’s Kuchera, Tejpal MirdhaIn an urgent hearing Sunday, Rajasthan HC restrained the ACB from arresting Mirdha until the next hearing of the case
