First in 10 years: BSP takes to streets — to protest and be heard

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In Lucknow, the dharna was held at Jyotiba Phule park in Chowk area of old city. BSP general secretary Naseemuddin Siddiqui, who led the dharna, cited names of farmers who, he claimed, committed suicide after the damage to their crops in unseasonal rain and hailstorm. He alleged that all of them had been paid paltry sums as compensation by the government.

At around 2.30 pm, Siddiqui concluded his speech and asked the crowd to stage a march “to show that the BSP has come on the streets and will brave the police lathis” to get the “anti-farmer” Akhilesh Yadav government dismissed.

Siddiqui, accompanied by party’s deputy leader in the Legislative Council, Gopal Narain Mishra, and party workers, marched up to the Chowk roundabout, where they staged a sit-in for nearly half-an-hour.

The dharna was lifted after police officers met Siddiqui and cited that it had had led to blockade of traffic on busy roads of the old city.

UP BSP president Ram Achal Rajbhar led the dharna in Ambedkar Nagar while party’s general secretary and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Swami Prasad Maurya was the chief guest at the sit-in held in Rae Bareli. Former minister and zonal coordinator R K Chaudhary led the protest in Allahabad.

Rajbhar said a good number of people turned up at the protests in every district where the sit-ins were held in a disciplined manner and ended peacefully.

A statement from the BSP state headquarters said that Mayawati could not lead the dharna in Lucknow or any other district because “she is busy in keeping a sharp eye on the activities of the central government in the Parliament”.