District Congress President Ghanshyam Verma says attempts to silence democratic voices will not be tolerated
Mungeli : The Congress organised a protest in Pathariya block of Chhattisgarh’s Mungeli district on October 8 as part of the party’s nationwide ‘Black Day’ observance. The protest targeted the Central Government and the Election Commission over allegations concerning electoral accountability and transparency. Party workers also raised concerns over electricity supply and other local issues affecting residents.
A large number of Congress office-bearers, local representatives and party workers participated in the demonstration, expressing opposition to what they described as attempts to suppress democratic dissent.
Congress Protests Police Action Against Opposition Leaders
The nationwide protest was called by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) following allegations of police action against opposition leaders and MPs during a protest linked to demands for greater accountability from the Election Commission.
Congress leaders alleged that party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi were leading opposition MPs towards Jantar Mantar to raise questions about the electoral process when police intervened to stop them.
The party also alleged that Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other senior leaders and opposition MPs faced the use of force, with some leaders reportedly sustaining injuries. Congress described the alleged incident as a matter concerning the right to peaceful protest and demanded accountability.
These allegations were raised by Congress as part of its justification for observing Black Day across the country.
Ghanshyam Verma Says Democratic Rights Must Be Protected
Addressing the gathering, District Congress Committee president Ghanshyam Verma said questioning the government and seeking answers from constitutional institutions were essential rights in a democracy.
Verma said the concerns raised by opposition leaders should be addressed rather than dismissed or suppressed. He emphasised that the Congress would continue to raise issues related to democratic rights, electoral transparency and the impartial functioning of constitutional institutions.
He also maintained that peaceful political dissent should be respected and that the voices of opposition leaders and party workers should not be silenced.
Electricity Supply Problems Also Feature in Protest
Alongside national political issues, Congress leaders highlighted electricity-related problems in Mungeli district. They raised concerns over power cuts, irregular supply and the difficulties faced by ordinary consumers.
The leaders argued that local civic and public-service concerns were equally important to residents and called for the authorities to address them.
By combining national-level demands with local grievances, the Pathariya demonstration sought to draw attention to both electoral accountability and problems affecting people in the district.
Large Number of Party Workers Participate
The protest was attended by Ghanshyam Verma, Sanjeet Banerjee, Chandrabhan Barmate, Mukesh Miri, Deepak Gupta, Tarini Vishwakarma, Jageshwari Verma, Urmila Yadav, Anita Vishwakarma, Hemin Mangeshkar, Manish Tripathi, Vidyanand Chandrakar, Dilip Banjara, Dilip Kaushik, Gwal Das Anant, Srinivas Thakur, Netram Sahu, Ghasia Lahre, Santosh Pali, Sampat Jaiswal, Abhishek Yadav, Rauni Gendle, Jait Ram Khande, Dharmendra Shrivas, Ejaz Ahmad, Krishna Soni, Bhupendra Sahu, Deepak Sahu, Chhotu Khan, Ramji Dhruv, Dev Marko, Naresh Patle, Tanish Kurre, Ashutosh Pandey, Gurmeet Bagga, Triloki Verma, Tej Singh Kshatriya, Neeraj Yadav, Santosh Yadav, Sada Ram Kashyap, Nanak Kashyap, Nobel Kashyap, Laxmi Ghritlahre, Sanjay Kurre, Tulsi Sonwani, Yugal Verma, Satish Verma, Babbu Thakur, Kamlesh Sahu, Tekram, Ramesh Rajput, Bhawani Mathur, Vinod Patel, Komal Ghritlahre, Balmukund Shrivas, Ishwar Chaturvedi, Arvind Patre, Kailash Shrivas, Krishna Nishad, Pandit Nohar Das, Dinesh Patre, Dheeraj, Baliram Sahu, Sunil Mishra, Rajendra Gendle, Pradeep Sahu, Manmohan Kshatriya, Santosh Shrivas, Tirath Patle, Radheshyam Sahu, Kranti Kishore Vaishnav, Manas Lodhi, Om Prakash Rajput, Radheshyam Markande, Manish Yadav, Krishna Sahu, Aditya Netam, Dabesh Sahu, Mukesh Sahu, Khemu Sahu, Bhupendra Verma, Manish Sahu, Aghan Sahu, Roshan Rajput, Deva Painter, Sahil Hussain, Sakhichand Verma, Vicky Verma, Gaya Netam, Abhiram Pal, Santosh Verma, Jageshwar Rajput, Dukalha, Jittu Rajput, Vijay Dhruv, Chaman Verma, Omkar Dadsena, Krishna Kumar, Naveen Kaushik, Dabbu Sahu, Pritam, Chandrakumar Dadsena, Dilharan Goyal, Hiradas Manikpuri, Ratiram Ogre, Poonam Divya, Jagdish Jaiswal, Hitesh Dadsena, Kuleshwar Yadav, Saurabh Shukla, Kalika, Parmeshwar, Ramkumar, Leela Jaiswal, Madan Patel, Omkar Yadav, Gyandas Chelkar, Sunil Verma and Rajkumar Yadav, among others.
The demonstration reflected the Congress’s effort to mobilise its local organisation around national political concerns while bringing district-level public grievances into the debate.
