Haridwar, 10 October (H.S.): Congress workers planning to attend the proposed protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar were placed under house arrest in Haridwar on Saturday. The action drew criticism from party workers, who alleged that the authorities were restricting their right to democratic protest.

Congress workers Kaish Khurana and Mahesh Pratap Singh Rana alleged that the BJP government was using different measures to protect Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. They claimed that Delhi had been turned into a heavily secured zone and people were being prevented from participating in demonstrations.

Councillors Vivek Bhushan Vicky and Divyansh Agrawal also criticised the restrictions, alleging that measures were being taken to prevent people from raising their voices against the government. They said Congress workers would not be deterred by such action and referred to earlier attempts to restrict protests during farmers' agitations.

Satish Dabde and Lucky Mahajan accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of being responsible for the deletion of crores of names from electoral rolls and held the government accountable as well. They said their agitation would continue until Kumar resigned.

The Congress workers said dissent and peaceful protest should be respected in a democracy.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar