Leaders held, workers baton-charged in Samajwadi Party protests (Second Lead)
March 9th, 2011 - 10:03 pm ICT by IANS
Lucknow, March 9 (IANS) Samajwadi Party (SP) workers again clashed with the police in several cities Wednesday as they rallied against the Uttar Pradesh government, while police arrested party leaders, including MPs Akhilesh Yadav and Rewati Raman Singh.
Thousands of SP activists took to the streets across the state on the final day of their three-day anti-government campaign, disrupting traffic and work in government offices.
Police baton charged protesters in several districts, including Lucknow, Chandauli, Banda, Amroha, Lakhimpur and Sitapur.
In Lucknow, Deputy Inspector General D.K. Thakur himself was seen slapping and kicking an SP worker in Hazratganj area, where hundreds were baton charged while marching against the “anti-people” policies of the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) led by Chief Minister Mayawati.
Akhilesh Yadav, Kannauj MP and son of party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, was arrested from the Amausi airport ahead of his participation in the agitation in Lucknow and his own constituency.
In Allahabad, party MP Rewati Raman Singh was detained along with hundreds of supporters.
“The state government has been functioning in an autocratic manner and my arrest reflects it,” Yadav told reporters before being whisked away by police.
“We will continue our fight against the autocratic functioning of the state government, irrespective of the harsh measures it adopts to gag us,” he added.
According to Thakur, he was arrested to maintain law and order.
“Lakhs of partymen have been either detained or arrested during our three-day “BSP Hatao, Pradesh Bachao” (Remove BSP, Save State) campaign, which clearly shows the susccess of our protest,” party spokesman in the state Rajendra Chaudhary told reporters at a press conference here.
According to reports, clashes between SP and police also took place in Etawah, Kannauj, Gorakhpur and other districts of the state.
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Tags: akhilesh yadav, allahabad, chandauli, chief minister, deputy inspector general, gorakhpur, government campaign, government offices, harsh measures, lakhs, law and order, mulayam singh yadav, party leader, party leaders, party spokesman, police baton, raman singh, sitapur, state campaign, uttar pradesh government