V P Singh prevented from entering UP

Ghaziabad: Former prime minister V P Singh, CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan and some other leaders were prevented from entering Uttar Pradesh on Thursday to participate in a farmers' rally to protest the land acquisition process for the Reliance Energy power project in Dadri. Police officials stopped the leaders and their supporters at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border near Ghazipur on National Highway 24. The 'kisan rally', proposed to be held at Dadri on Thursday, has been banned by the state administration, which has also clamped prohibitory orders in the area. Besides Singh and Bardhan, Jan Morcha President Raj Babbar, Lok Jan Shakti Party leader Ramvilas Paswan, social activist Sandeep Pandey were among those who were prevented from entering the state. The Uttar Pradesh administration has made elaborate security arrangements to prevent any untoward incident in the region. Provincial Armed Constabulary personnel and several companies of Rapid Action Force, besides a posse of policemen have been deployed on the border and Dadri, where the power plant is being set up. Singh has been alleging that the state government had acquired land from farmers for the Reliance Energy power project at dirt-cheap prices and is leading a campaign on the issue. Babbar claimed that around 18,000 people have been arrested all over UP since Monday night for expressing support with the rally.