BJP workers held for protest over coal, released

BHOPAL - The Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) Madhya Pradesh unit Monday launched a symbolic “koyala (coal) satyagrah” from Shahdol district against the alleged short-supply of coal to the state by the Congress-led central government.

Led by state party president Prabhat Jha, thousands of BJP supporters stopped trucks loaded with coal at Dhanpuri. The trucks were taking coal from Madhya Pradesh to other states.

Police arrested Jha along with other party workers but released them later.

We arrested (BJP) state president and others for their act of stopping coal transportation. They were released later,” Shahdol Superintendent of Police Sudhir Laad told IANS.

Jha said the state needed 15 lakh tonnes of coal but it was getting 13.7 lakh tonnes of coal from the central government, leading to problems in power generation.

The BJP president, who staged a sit-in protest, threatened to hold protests in the entire Madhya Pradesh if the central government did not give adequate coal to the state.