Other States - Madhya Pradesh   

Several State Congress leaders held in Bhopal

— Photo: A.M. Faruqui

DEFYING ORDERS: Leader of the Opposition in Madhya Pradesh Assembly Jamuna Devi being taken away by the police from the Chief Minister’s residence in Bhopal on Sunday after she staged a sit-in there along with party workers protesting against the detention of senior party leaders in Indore.

BHOPAL: Leader of the Opposition in Madhya Pradesh Assembly Jamuna Devi, along with many other Congress leaders, was arrested when she sat on a protest dharna in front of the Chief Minister’s residence here after news had spread that many senior Congress leaders, including AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh, Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee President Suresh Pachouri, State Congress Campaign Committee Chairman Ajay Singh and AICC General Secretary in-charge state affairs V. Narainswamy had been detained at the Indore airport when they reached there on Sunday morning.

The Congress leaders had gone to Indore to visit areas affected by communal violence ignited by last week’s Bharat Bandh on the Amarnath Shrine Board issue in which six persons were killed. As the police refused curfew passes and denied permission to the Congress leaders to enter the troubled areas, they sat on a dharna. The Police detained the Congress leaders at the same spot and declared them as arrested.

Ms. Jamuna Devi was picked up by force when she refused to listen to repeated requests by top police and other officials to call off her sit-in protest outside the Chief Minister’s residence. Also arrested with her were the State Congress spokesman Manak Agarwal and J.P. Dhanopia, city Mayor Sunil Sood and NSUI State President Rashmi Pawar.

The Congress leaders’ arrest on the eve of the monsoon session of Madhya Pradesh Assembly beginning on Monday would be raised as a major issue by the main Opposition in the House.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Several State Congress leaders held in Bhopal

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu