Ayodhya:
The Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh managed to contain a potentially volatile situation today with a massive crackdown on the Vishwa Hindu Parishad which had planned to launch a yatra at Ayodhya aimed at reviving the contentious Ram temple issue ahead of the 2014 general elections.
While the VHP chief Ashok Singhal was detained at Lucknow airport, senior leader Praven Togadia was arrested while trying to offer prayers at the Saryu river banks in Ayodhya. Other leaders arrested today include ex-BJP Member of Parliament Ram Vilas Vedanti and former Ayodhya MLA Lallu Singh. Togadia, Vedanti and Singh have been sent to 14-day judicial custody. (
VHP yatra: 10 latest developments)
A defiant Ashok Singhal said the yatra can't be stopped now, claiming that hundreds of saints from across the country have left for Ayodhya. In protest against the arrests, the VHP has decided to hold demonstrations across the country tomorrow. (
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The BJP, despite being the VHP's close affiliate in the Sangh Parivar, kept a distance from the yatra. Its leaders in Delhi and Lucknow, however, protested against the Akhilesh Yadav government's order banning the yatra, also called 84 Kos Parikrama.
The Uttar Pradesh government fortified Ayodhya with 8000 cops and arrested more than 2000 people from across the state to ensure that the VHP was unable to set off on the 300-km march through six districts - Faizabad, Barabanki, Bahraich, Basti, Gonda and Ambedkar Nagar - that circle Ayodhya.
The six districts also have a sizeable Muslim population, a crucial vote bank for the ruling Samajwadi Party government, which had sought to score some brownie points with the minorities when it banned the VHP yatra last week.
The VHP's efforts this morning are also seen as focused on the forthcoming elections. It is an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS as is the BJP, which rode the Ram temple issue to power two decades ago.
The Congress, meanwhile, attacked the Samajwadi Party and the BJP for "enacting a drama" under an "understanding" between them. "Matchfixing in Ayodhya?" tweeted party general secretary Digvijaya Singh.