'SP trying to secure votes by banning VHP yatra': BJP

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday hit out at the ruling Samajvadi Party in Uttar Pradesh for banning the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's (VHP) yatra citing possible communal flare-up, and said that the Samajwadi Party (SP) is clearly trying to politicize this issue to garner votes.

"Samajwadi Party is disrupting communal harmony. There is no communal tension anywhere. And people keep going for religious yatras but the Samajwadi party is trying to do politics out of it and secure votes," BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said.

Earlier in the day, VHP President Ashok Singhal and senior leader Praveen Togadia were detained by the police, along with 500 activists across Uttar Pradesh.

Togadia was arrested when he defied prohibitory orders in Ayodhya and attempted to conduct prayers on the banks of the Saryu river, after the Uttar Pradesh government had banned the yatra, while Singhal was detained at the Lucknow airport.

Prominent among those arrested by the state police include Savitri Bai Phule, VHP's provincial coordinator Acharya Kushmuni and Mahant Santosh Das alias Sathu Baba, a VHP office bearer in Varanasi while prominent VHP leader Mahant Ram Saran Das was held at Ram Sanehi Ghat in Ayodhya.

Reports state that a curfew-like situation is prevailing in the town as shops have been shut and Naya Ghat area has been cordoned off.

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Saturday dismissed a plea for allowing 84-Kosi parikrama yatra, stating that there is a possibility of tension, and added that the restriction will be maintained.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad has vowed to kick off its 'Chaurasi Kosi Parikrama' around Ayodhya to revive its demand for a Ram temple.

The Samajwadi Party Government has banned the proposed Yatra, as a preemptive measure against communal flare-up, and put in place elaborate security arrangements by rushing in 10 companies of the Rapid Action Force (RSF) and 12 companies of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC).