Following Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's dharna, detention and subsequent release, BJP leaders Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley courted arrest yesterday
Following Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's dharna, detention and subsequent release, BJP leaders Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley courted arrest yesterday
Not to be outdone by Rahul Gandhi's strategy, senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh on Thursday sat on a fast in support of the farmers' agitation, along with Arun Jaitley and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in Ghaziabad. 
Eye on polls? Rahul Gandhi listens to a villager during his dharna in
support of farmers at Bhatta Parsaul on Wednesday. file pic
The leaders were soon arrested by the local police on charge of breach of peace under section 151 CrPC and taken to the police lines in the district where prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC, which do not allow assembly of four or more persons, were already imposed. This evoked a strong reaction from BJP which, saying that the State was under "dictatorship", vowed to continue its protest irrespective of "repression" and demanded Mayawati's resignation.
The former BJP president and Uttar Pradesh chief minister began his fast at the Ambedkar Market in Ghaziabad at 12 noon. The leaders were taken to the police lines and freed but Rajnath Singh refused to budge. The district administration took him to the Housing Corporation guest house in Vasundhara area.
Rajnath announced that since he had already announced a 24-hour fast, he would continue it till 12 noon on Friday.
Hitting back at the opposition, Mayawati said the clashes in Greater Noida had nothing to do with the issue of land compensation and accused the Congress, BJP and other parties of attempting to disturb law and order by spreading "rumours" while dubbingu00a0 Rahul Gandhi's dharna as "mean theatrics".
"By spreading lies and rumours, opposition parties are attempting to disturb law and order situation by misleading people and Bhatta Parsaul incident is an example of their dirty politics," said Mayawati in Lucknow.
She accused the Centre of not providing due compensation to farmers for Rae Bareli rail coach factory land and said Rahul should have been standing with them and not in Noida.
Rita Bahuguna Joshi and scores of Congress leaders, including legislators, and workers were baton-charged and detained in Lucknow and elsewhere during a statewide 'chakka jam' protest or road blockade by the party against the arrest of Rahul in Bhatta Parsaul on Wednesday night and in support of farmers' demands in western UP. Similar protests by Congress were held in other parts of the state including Rae Bareli, Ghaziabad, Jhansi, Meerut, Allahabad and Sitapur districts while security was stepped up in Greater Noida.
NHRC announces investigation
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said on Thursday it will send an investigation team to the affected villages in Greater Noida.
The panel said it has received complaints about police trespassing into villagers' houses, outraging women's dignity and mercilessly lathicharging farmers demanding more compensation for their land acquired for a road project.
Midnight drama
AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi was arrested in a dramatic late night swoop Wednesday while he was on a sit-in at Bhatta Parsaul village in Uttar Pradesh to support agitating farmers demanding more money for their land being acquired for a highway project. He was later released and returned to New Delhi. There was high drama at the Kasna police station in Greater Noida where Gandhi and other Congress leaders,u00a0u00a0 including Digvijay Singh and Rita Bahuguna Joshi, were taken after the arrest. Gandhi was asked to sign a bond after which police said he would be permitted to leave. Gandhi, however, flatly refused to do so saying he had gone to the village with a purpose and would return there if he was released, Congress sources said.
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