Press Trust of India Posted online: Wednesday, June 29, 2005 at 1628 hours IST Updated: Wednesday, June 29, 2005 at 1642 hours IST
Hyderabad, June 29: Several BJP leaders, including party national vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu, along with around 200 activists were taken into custody when they took out a rally to protest the hike in petrol and diesel prices here today.
Barricades were erected to prevent the BJP workers, including women, who had gathered near Indira Park as part of their nation-wide agitation, to prevent them from proceeding towards the secretariat.
But when they tried to proceed further raising slogans against the Centre and state governments, demanding immediate roll back in petrol and diesel prices, they were taken into preventive custody, police said.
Former Union Minister and party's national secretary Bandaru Dattatreya, Andhra Pradesh unit president N Indrasena Reddy, vice-president Seshagiri Rao, party's floor leader in the state Assembly G Kishan Reddy and ex-MLA Laxman were among those arrested, police added.
Naidu and others were later released, police said.
Addressing the party workers prior to the preventive custody, Naidu accused the UPA government of pursuing anti-poor, anti-people and anti-farmers policies.
The Congress and the Left parties, who had promised that the UPA government would work for the welfare of people, have been deceiving poor people, Naidu alleged.
The hike in the petrol and diesel prices would ultimately increase the prices of essential commodities in the country and common man would not be able to bear the burden, he said.
Demanding immediate roll back of the hike in petrol and diesel, the BJP vice-president said "it is a test for Left parties, which always claim that they are supporters of the common man."
Taking a dig at Left parties, Naidu said "the Left parties show green flag in coordination meetings and while coming out from it, they show the red flag.
The UPA, by increasing prices of sugar, coal, pulses, cement, steel, petrol and diesel during last one year, has betrayed the common man, he said.
BJP national secretary Bandaru Dattatreya, state unit president N Indrasena Reddy and other state leaders also spoke on the occasion and criticised the UPA government.
