Hyderabad, July 5 (IANS) Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naidu and leaders of Left parties were arrested while holding protests against price hike here Monday.
Naidu was taken into custody along with several TDP leaders and activists when they staged a road block in the busy Ameerpet area.
Tension prevailed as Naidu’s supporters tried to resist his arrest for sometime. The protest caused a huge traffic jam in one of the main commercial areas in the city.
Holding TDP flags and raising anti-government slogans, the protesters squatted on the road, demanding an immediate rollback of the hike in petroleum prices.
Naidu later told reporters that the nationwide shutdown called by the opposition was a ‘grand success’ as all sections of people were taking part in it voluntarily.
‘The government has to realise the seriousness of the price hike and roll back the hike. The opposition protests will continue until then,’ the former chief minister said.
The other main protest in the city was held at the Road Transport Corp (RTC) crossroads where the Left parties staged a road blockade.
Police arrested Communist Party of India (CPI) state secretary K. Narayana and Communist Party of India-Marxisr (CPI-M) leader B.V. Raghavulu apart from others.
Police kept Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president G. Kishan Reddy under house arrest to prevent him from participating in the protests. Kishan Reddy termed the police action ‘undemocratic’.
The BJP leader was told that it was done to prevent protests during the presence of President Pratibha Patil.
Police made elaborate security arrangements to prevent protest demonstrations around Ravindra Bharati, where the president attended a programme.
