Protest March in Garhshankar Against Alleged Deletion of Votes; Effigies of Election Commission and Prime Minister Burnt — Comrade Gurnek Singh Bhajjal

Garhshankar, October 23 (Hari Krishan Gangar):- On the call of the Joint Front and the CPI(M), leaders and workers of various public organisations today took out a protest march from Gandhi Park to Baba Gurdit Singh Park in Tehsil Garhshankar, raising forceful slogans. At the conclusion of the march, effigies of the Election Commission and the Prime Minister were burnt.

On the occasion, a memorandum addressed to the President was submitted through the SDM, demanding protection of the right to vote, which the people of the country had secured through long struggles, and an end to the process of deleting large numbers of votes from electoral rolls. The leaders alleged that the Election Commission's actions were harming people's democratic rights and that attempts were being made to benefit the BJP.

The leaders raised their voices in support of students, farmers and other democratic organisations protesting at Jantar Mantar in Delhi against the alleged deletion of votes. Condemning the alleged high-handedness and torture of protesters, they urged the President to intervene in the matter. They demanded action against officials responsible for torturing protesters and an impartial inquiry into the role of the Election Commission. They further demanded an immediate halt to the alleged process of vote theft and legal action against those responsible.

Those participating in the protest march included Kul Hind Kisan Sabha state secretary Gurnek Singh Bhajjal, state vice-president Darshan Singh Mattu, Kirti Kisan Union's Harmesh Dhessi, Jamhoori Kisan Sabha's Kalbhushan Kumar, Makhan Singh Wahidpuri, trade union leader Mahinder Kumar Vadovan, Neelam Rani from the Women's Sabha, Ram Ji Dass Chauhan, Mohan Lal Binewal, Garbakhsh Kaur, Sukhwinder Kaur, Balbir Singh, Bakshish Singh, Avtar Singh, Prem Singh, Balbir Singh Bora, Sham Sunder Kapoor, Gurnam Singh Hajipur, Bahadur Singh Megowal, Hans Raj, Shingara Ram, Bakshish Singh Dayal, Surinder Singh Mattu, Jaswinder Singh, Jaswinder Kaur Bora, Rashpal Kaur Garhshankar and Jaswinder Mattu, along with a large number of other participants.

The stage proceedings were efficiently conducted by Bibi Subhash Mattu. At the conclusion, Darshan Singh Mattu thanked all those who attended.