Prayagraj, September 11: Just hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to Varanasi on Thursday, the Prayagraj police launched a massive late-night crackdown on Congress leaders across all 12 districts of the Prayagraj zone.
Acting on intelligence inputs that Congress leaders were preparing for protests, police forces moved in on Wednesday midnight and placed several party functionaries under house arrest.
Dozens of local Congress leaders were confined to their homes, with police personnel deployed outside their residences.
In some cases, leaders were taken to police stations, interrogated, and released only after giving written assurances that they would not step out or attempt to mobilize protests.
Prominent leaders targeted in the operation included city Congress president Fuzail Hashmi, former state Congress spokesperson Kishore Varshney, coordinator Harkesh Tripathi, former city president Nafees Anwar, Manas Shukla, Parvez Siddiqui, Arshad Ali, and several others. At Hashmi’s residence, forces from Puramufti and Dhumanganj police stations were stationed, virtually turning his house into a guarded zone.
Condemning the move, Hashmi lashed out at the government, saying, “In a democracy, this the BJP regime is trying to silence our voices.”
Former Congress spokesperson Kishore Varshney also reacted strongly, linking the crackdown to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Wednesday visit to Rae Bareli. He alleged that the BJP’s protest against Rahul Gandhi reflected only panic and frustration.
According to him, Rahul Gandhi’s exposure of alleged election malpractice by the BJP, Election Commission, and government had triggered a nationwide ‘Vote Chori Hatao’ (Remove the Vote Thieves) campaign, and the government was now trying to suppress it.
Varshney further argued that the BJP’s protests over an alleged insult to PM Modi’s mother in Bihar were baseless. “When Rahul Gandhi, Congress leaders, or RJD leaders never insulted the Prime Minister’s mother, why target Rahul Gandhi? This clearly shows that the protests are meant to cover up the revelations about vote theft,” he added.
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