BJP workers clash with cops, Jaitley courts arrest

Lucknow: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders like Arun Jaitley joined hundreds of party activists in courting arrest here on Monday, when opposition parties called for a nationwide shutdown against the hike in fuel prices.

Amongst the other leaders who courted arrest near the party's office along the Vidhan Sabha Marg were Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Lalji Tandon.

"The arrest is in protest against the wrong economic policies of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government… The policies are a burden on poor people," Jaitley told reporters in Lucknow.

BJP men held in Maharashtra as bandh disrupts life

A group of BJP activists also clashed with the police when they were prevented from taking out a march. Police used batons against the protesters who had assembled outside the party’s office.

Though police claimed no one was seriously injured in the incident, BJP workers alleged that a number of party workers had to be admitted to hospital.

"We were protesting in a peaceful manner, but the police started manhandling us and unnecessarily used force against us," BJP spokesperson in Lucknow Hero Bajpai told reporters in Lucknow.