BJP alleges political vendetta in UP, plans protest

The Uttar Pradesh unit of the BJP Wednesday announced a statewide agitation beginning July 26, to protest the Akhilesh Yadav government's "politics of vendetta".

The party leadership cannot be a mute spectator to the "politics of vendetta" unleashed on its activists by the state government, the state BJP said.

State Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Laxmikant Bajpayi said all parliamentarians from western Uttar Pradesh region and legislators would go to the Kanth police station in Moradabad and file a complaint against the district police chief for allegedly hitting arrested BJP activists with shoes and forcing them to drink urine.

The party leaders will also call on the governor and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and submit a memorandum against the poor treatment of its activists.

BJP leaders said the party will continue with its "pro-people policies" and stand by them in situations like in Kanth village where police and district administration officials removed loud speakers from a Shiva temple that led to tension in the area.

Four BJP leaders - Amroha MP Kanwar Singh Tanwar, Rampur MP Nepal Singh and Sambhal MP Satyal Saini, along with Sardhana legislator Sangeet Som - were arrested when they were on their way to attend a Maha Panchayat called by villagers.

The state government has alleged that the BJP was trying to foment trouble by igniting communal passions.

In violence after the arrest of the BJP leaders, the Moradabad district magistrate was injured and lost vision in one of his eyes. He is now admitted to a Chennai hospital.