Lucknow, June 26 (IANS) Top leaders of the Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were held and later released here Saturday for holding a protest against the hike in fuel prices and the state government’s banning political parties from contesting he upcoming civil polls.
Led by party veteran and Lucknow MP Lalji Tandon, state BJP chief Surya Pratap Shahi and senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member Kalraj Mishra, the demonstrators had barely stepped out of Shaheed Smarak (Martyrs Memorial) on the banks of the Gomati river to march to the state assembly when they were intercepted by police.

They were told by the local authorities not to proceed towards the assembly as demonstrations had been banned by the state government.

However, when hundreds of the BJP activists attempted to break the police barricades, they were pushed back with water cannons.

Tandon, Shahi and Mishra were driven down to the police lines. After being formaly arrested, they were kept in detention and the released. Several hundred other protesters were also arrested, an official in the district administration said.

Earlier while talking to reporters, Tandon flayed the Congress-led central government for the fuel price hike.

“The Congress-led UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government has now proved that it has nothing whatsoever to do with the plight of the common man, who was already suffering due to the mounting prices of essential commodities, and now with the petrol price hike the poor man on the street will be forced to starve,” he said.

Shahi also lambasted the Mayawati government for “banning” political parties from participating in the civic elections next year. “We will not allow this to happen,” he said, threatening more protests.