Thaindian News

Ghaziabad/New Delhi, May 12 (IANS) Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Rajnath Singh, who began a day-long fast here Thursday in support of protesting farmers in Greater Noida, was arrested along with other party leaders but refused to call off his agitation. Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan was also arrested trying to reach Bhatta-Parsaul village - the epicentre of the agitation.

Rajnath Singh slammed his arrest, terming it was the first instance when a person peacefully sitting on a fast without any danger to his health had been arrested. “It is a sign of weakness of the government,” he said.

Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, BJP leaders Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Ashok Pradhan, Janata Dal-United general secretary K.C. Tyagi, and state BJP president Surya Pratap Shahi were among the leaders who were also arrested along with him.

As the former BJP president and Uttar Pradesh chief minister began his fast at the Ambedkar Market here at 12 noon, District Magistrate Hridesh Kumar and Senior Superintendent of Police Raghvir Lall soon reached the site and arrested all the leaders on apprehension of breach of peace under section 151 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The leaders were taken to the police lines and freed but Rajnath Singh refused to be freed. On his refusal, the district administration took him to the Housing Corporation guest house in Vasundhara area.

He announced that since he had already announced 24-hour fast, he would continue it till 12 noon Friday.

Earlier, addressing the gathering at the site of his fast, Rajnath Singh said: “Mayawati promised the people of the state that when she comes to power then she will establish peace across the state but during these four years of Mayawati’s government, the situation has worsened.”

The law and order situation under Mayawati had “deteriorated to the lowest levels”, he said.

In his address, Jaitley termed the rule of Mayawati government “black years” for the state.

“These four years (of the Mayawati government) will be the black years in the history of Uttar Pradesh… I don’t hesitate to say that in the history of Uttar Pradesh, there has not been any government more corrupt and tyrannical,” he added.

The arrests of its leaders evoked a strong reaction from the BJP, which alleged that Uttar Pradesh was being run under a “dictatorship” and vowed to continue its protest “irrespective of repression”.

“It would have been better if the chief minister would have sat with the farmers and supported them. In India, people have to struggle for everything, which is unfortunate,” former deputy prime minister L.K. Advani said in New Delhi.

Former finance minister Yashwant Sinha said: “UP is being run like a dictatorship. Sitting on a hunger strike for 24 hours is an absolutely assured democratic right. How can you arrest somebody not indulging in looting or rioting? Which law was broken that necessitated their arrest? I am absolutely shocked at the behaviour of the government.”

Later in the day, the Uttar Pradesh Police also arrested Paswan and senior Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait.

“We demand the dismissal of Mayawati government over the issue,” Paswan said after he was arrested and termed the BSP government as “anti-Dalit and anti-poor”.

Tikait, who also tried to enter the area along with 100 supporters, was arrested after a minor tussle with police. He said that BKU chief Mahendra Singh Tikait could not come personally as he was not well.

The arrests also came a day after Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi was arrested in a dramatic late night swoop while he was on a sit-in with the agitating villagers. He was released after being held for about three hours and later returned to New Delhi.

Police and agitating farmers in Greater Noida, which falls in Gautam Budh Nagar district, fought pitched battles in Bhatta Parsaul village Saturday in which four people, including two policemen, were killed.

The clash erupted when police tried to rescue three state road transport corporation employees held hostage by the farmers.

The farmers are agitating for higher compensation for land taken for constructing the 156-km Yamuna Expressway that is to link New Delhi with Agra and reduce travel time by an hour.