Protest reports from Badaun, Allahabad, Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad, Etawah, Kanpur and Meerut districts by Congress workers on road scuffles with UP police when they tried to stop them from burning effigies of chief minister Mayawati.

Many places, some of the protesters were detained but later let off by the police.

Congress party MP and former cricketer Azharuddin leading protest march only to be arrested by the police.

Azharuddin said that what has happened in Lucknow and to the UPCC president was totally undemocratic. “Even if whatever she had said was wrong, then law has a specified course that has to be followed. But how can the government take law into its hand,” the former Indian skipper said, adding: “Why is that the arsonists who set ablaze Joshi’s house have not been rounded up. Had the government shown equal urgency in initiating action against them like it has shown in putting Joshi behind bars, then the police action against our leader could have been understandable.”

City protest at Muradabad march was not allowed to proceed for a kilometre after which the police put the protesters in many buses waiting on the roadside and rushed them to the Reserve Police Lines. More than 500 congress workers protested and were arrested only to be released later in the evening.

Earlier, agitated Congressmen raised slogans outside the Moradabad district jail gates when the authorities refused to allow the AICC secretary Bhola Pandey to meet Joshi. Pandey had reached Moradabad with his party functionaries and sought a meeting with the jailed UPCC chief.UPCC Vice - president Imtiyaz Khan also accused the Jail authorities of treating Joshi poorly in jail.