Babu collapses on way to jail

The Telugu Desam chief, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, and 70-odd party MLAs including women have been remanded to judicial custody till July 26 after they refused to accept bail here on Monday.

Mr Naidu and his comrades, who were arrested for undertaking a trip to the controversial Babli project, are likely to be shifted to Aurangabad. They had been confined in a local ITI centre for the last four days.

This is the first time in history that an Opposition leader and 70 odd MLAs of one state have been detained for four days in another state and sent to jail.

With the police not willing to disclose where the TD leaders were being taken, Mr Naidu and his colleagues held a dharna in protest saying they were being harassed. Mr Naidu, who fasted during the day, collapsed due to weakness after angrily getting down the police van in protest against police failure to disclose jail destination and for carrying them in a rickety van here late night.

“Is this the way you treat a former Chief Minister, MPs and MLAs? Where is the need to take us this night,” he fumed on police.

Meanwhile, the Maharastra Chief Minister, Mr Ashok Chavan, offered to hold a joint meeting with the state on the Babli project, if the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh desired.

He made the offer during a telephonic conversation with Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah on Monday.