India's ruling party outraged over Rahul Gandhi's arrest

Rahul Gandhi had joined farmers protesting against the construction of a highway; he was freed overnight.

NEW DEHLI: India's ruling Congress party reacted with fury Thursday after police arrested senior leader Rahul Gandhi, widely tipped as a future prime minister, as he took part in protests by farmers.

The 40-year-old scion of the Gandhi political dynasty and son of Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, was briefly taken into custody on Wednesday night after he joined farmers protesting against the construction of a highway.

The arrest in Uttar Pradesh puts the state's firebrand leader, chief minister Mayawati, on a collision course with Congress leaders in New Delhi who fiercely protect Gandhi's image.

The Uttar Pradesh MP was freed overnight and escorted to the capital.

"How can the state government arrest Rahul Gandhi? He is fighting for the farmers and that is not a crime," Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi in New Delhi told AFP.

"The state government of Uttar Pradesh is greedy for farm lands. They are attacking farmers, killing people, destroying crops. We will not let this happen."

Despite the public anger, Gandhi's smiling face as he was driven away by police was captured on most newspaper front pages Thursday and the arrest might further burnish his leadership credentials and popularity.

Singhvi said the Congress party, which still benefits from its legacy as India's independence-era political party, would hold a massive protest rally against Mayawati, a populist who has clashed before with the Gandhis.

Mayawati's government had sought to restrict access to the Bhatta and Parsaul villages on the outskirts of New Delhi where farmers and police clashed at the weekend, leaving three people dead.

Gandhi, 40, sneaked into the area riding pillion on a motorbike in the early hours of Wednesday to avoid police deployed there. Before his arrest, he spoke with farmers and denounced the local government.

The rising political star is the great-grandson of India's independence prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, grandson of late former prime minister Indira Gandhi and son of late former premier Rajiv Gandhi.

"The Uttar Pradesh government have committed a blunder by arresting Rahul Gandhi. We will fight against Mayawati's dictatorship," senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh, who was also arrested, told AFP.