Mulayam,Akhilesh cry house arrest

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son Akhilesh were allegedly put under “house arrest” following a call by the Opposition party for a three-day agitation from Monday to press for ouster of the Mayawati government.

Alleging that the authorities had barricaded their residence and deployed security personnel around it to restrict their movement,Mulayam said it was a breach of privilege of the two MPs. The SP supremo said he had faxed a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker after he was “prevented from attending Parliament” in the morning.The authorities,however,denied that the SP leaders were put under “house arrest”. “The two leaders are not under house arrest. In fact,Mulayam Singh Yadav was scheduled to leave for New Delhi by a morning flight,which has been delayed,” said District Magistrate Anil Kumar Sagar.

He said a “proper route” was provided to the SP supremo to travel to the airport. Before leaving for Delhi,Mulayam claimed that the Mayawati government had ordered a crackdown on SP workers. “Even Akhilesh and I were put under house arrest this morning,” he alleged. Akhilesh is president of the party’s Uttar Pradesh unit.

“It was breach of parliamentary privilege by the administration and the police by not allowing us to come out of Vikramaditya Marg residence,” he said. The SP supremo said the party had launched a peaceful protest against “corruption and atrocities” of the state government.