The protests against land acquisitions by farmers in Greater Noida turned into a full-blown political war on Thursday after the arrest of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday night with the BJP too sending senior leaders into UP to express solidarity with the farmers. UP chief minister and BSP supremo Mayawati hit back at the Congress, calling Mr Gandhi’s dharna “mean theatrics’ and saying the Opposition parties were playing dirty politics and trying to malign her image and her party.

Congress workers spilled onto the streets and braved lathicharges at several places on Thursday to protest against the arrest of their leader, Mr Rahul Gandhi, in Greater Noida on Wednesday night. The Congress now plans to spread its agitation against the Mayawati government to all corners of the state. “The battle has begun and we will not call it off till justice prevails. This is a do-or-die battle for the Congress workers in the state,” said UPCC president Rita Bahuguna Joshi.
Ms Mayawati, meanwhile, asked Mr Gandhi to fight the battle for farmers in his own UPA government instead of taking to the streets in Uttar Pradesh. Addressing a press conference here Thursday, she said, “If the Yuvraj (Rahul Gandhi) is so concerned about farmers, he should plead their case in the UPA government, which has been sitting on the Land Acquisition Bill for the past several years. I think no one listens to him there so he is venting his ire in UP.”
Ms Mayawati added that instead of staging dharnas in Bhatta Parsaul village on Wednesday, Congressmen should have been in Rae Bareli with Mrs Sonia Gandhi where farmers are protesting low compensation for the land taken by the Centre for a rail coach factory. She criticised the Opposition parties and said they were turning desperate because they had no issues against her government. She also alleged that anti-social elements were sent to Bhatta Parsaul with illegal arms to create trouble and disturb law and order. “This deplorable drama by the Congress deserves to be condemned and is designed to rescue some miscreants who have been arrested. However, my government will not relent on this issue,” she said.
The BJP will observe a fast from 10 am to 6 pm on Friday to pledge its solidarity with the senior leaders who were arrested in Ghaziabad earlier on Thursday. BJP leaders Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley, along with other senior party leaders, were arrested by the UP police in Ghaziabad on Thursday while they were staging a dharna in support of farmers in Greater Noida.
Mr Rajnath Singh announced that he would continue his 24-hour fast even if he was jailed. The state unit of the BJP has now announced a fast on Friday in protest against the arrest of BJP leaders in Ghaziabad.
The Congress decision to launch a protest agitation on Thursday was taken after Mr Gandhi was arrested from Bhatta Parsaul village late Wednesday night and then released at the Delhi border at around 1.30 am Thursday. In Lucknow, Congress workers led by Ms Rita Bahuguna Joshi were lathicharged when they attempted to form a human chain and block traffic near the Vidhan Sabha. Ms Joshi and other Congress workers were later arrested and taken to the police lines.
UPCC spokesman Subodh Srivastava said, “Several party leaders and workers were injured in the lathicharge on peaceful protesters while UPCC president Rita Bahuguna Joshi was manhandled by police.” In Rae Bareli, two MLAs and MLCs, along with other party workers, were detained and later released after they blocked the national highway and burnt effigies of chief minister Mayawati.
Congress workers in Kanpur stopped the Delhi-Lucknow Shatabdi Express as part of the “chakka jam” programme and the GRP resorted to a lathicharge to clear the tracks. In Sitapur and Varanasi, Congress workers burnt effigies of the chief minister and were later detained by the police. Party workers also blocked roads in Allahabad and Agra.
Bhartiya Kisan union leader Rakesh Tikait was arrested with his supporters in Meerut on Thursday morning.
Ms Mayawati, meanwhile, said, “My officials have already explained that there are no issues about compensation in Bhatta Parsaul because the same was settled by the Grater Noida Authority in 2009-2010. Opposition parties are trying to malign the image of my government and entered the villages in the garb of farmers. They held transport officials hostage and we had to rescue them. I appreciate the role played by officials and the police in dealing with the situation.” She warned that she would not allow anyone — “howsoever high-profile and influential he may be” — to disturb law and order in UP and pointed out that whenever her political rivals had tried to malign her image and that of her government, her party had emerged stronger.