Zee Media Bureau/Hemant Abhishek
Lucknow: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called for a bandh in western Uttar Pradesh today as a mark of protest against the arrest of MLAs and Samajwadi Party government`s step to forbid party chief Rajnath Singh from visiting Muzaffarnagar on Saturday.
Local party leaders informed the scribes that a bandh had been called from Saharanpur to Rampur districts of Western UP as a mark of protest against the arrest of party MLAs.
Sangeet Som, the party’s MLA from Sardhana constituency, and Suresh Rana from Thana Bhawan constituency were arrested for violating prohibitory orders and provoking communal tension.
Rajnath Singh on Saturday criticised the Akhilesh Yadav-led Uttar Pradesh Government after he was made to cancel his visit to riot-hit areas of Muzaffarnagar.
Rajnath had on Saturday said that a party delegation, including Uttar Pradesh BJP members, would be meeting President Pranab Mukherjee on September 24 to apprise him of their stand on the Muzaffarnagar situation.
“The SP Government by arresting BJP MLAs is trying to cover up its own wrongdoings. We have decided that we will meet the President on September 24, in which our UP BJP members would also accompany us, to apprise him of the situation in Muzaffarnagar,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Rajnath Singh called off his Muzaffarnagar visit, where more than 40 people died due to communal clashes.
According to reports, in a fax letter sent to the BJP president`s office, the district magistrate urged him not to visit the area as it could disturb both calm and peace.
