Many SP workers stopped from taking out padyatra in east UP
VARANASI/PRAYAGRAJ: Hundreds of Samajwadi Party (SP) workers and leaders, including former ministers, who were trying to take out a padyatra (foot march) in support of the ongoing farmers’ agitation, faced police action in Varanasi, Mirzapur, Azamgarh, Prayagraj, Kaushambi and Pratapgarh districts of eastern UP on Monday.
While some of them were detained, a few were stopped from moving out of their homes to lead the protest.Superintendent of police (Varanasi City) Vikas Chandra Tripathi said the people who were detained in the morning were released in the evening.
In Varanasi, former minister Surendra Singh Patel and former MLA Mahendra Singh Patel were stopped at their residence in the Rohania area as they tried to march along with supporters to the district headquarters.
Patel said, “The BJP-led government is not listening to the voice of annadatas (farmers).”
SP leader Sujit Yadav, along with party workers, was detained and taken to the Phulpur police station in Varanasi. In Cholapur area, the police detained some SP workers who were on the way to stage a demonstration.
In Mirzapur, the party’s Madihan assembly constituency president Shailesh Patel and SP leader Shambhu Yadav were detained and taken to a police station. Former minister Kailas Chaurasia, along with 24 SP workers, was detained and taken to the police lines in Mirzapur.
In Azamgarh, former minister Durga Yadav was detained by the police. He was taken to the reserve police lines. Former MP Balhari Babu and SP district president Havaldar Yadav were also detained when they started a dharna at the party office in
Azamgarh. A group of SP workers in Varanasi also staged a demonstration in protest against the detention of party chief Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow.
In Prayagraj, MLC Man Singh Yadav, SP district president Yogesh Chandra Yadav, city president Sayyad Iftekhar Hussain, former minister Hiramani Patel and former MP Nagendra Singh Patel, along with 65 other party leaders and workers, were detained while they were taking out a protest march from the party office in the Georgetown area to the Collectorate.
Former minister Shivakant Ojha and SP’s Kaushambi district president Ramkaran Nirmal were detained. In Pratapgarh, party workers were detained or stopped from taking out rallies in Patti, Jethwara, Raniganj and Kunda areas.The situation was similar in the Saini, Sirathu, Mahewaghat, Chayal and other areas of Kaushambi district.