Youth Cong leaders detained as they try to march towards Goa CM's house

Former Goa chief minister and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Digambar Kamat, said the action against Youth Congress leaders was unwarranted.When I was CM I faced several agitations.

Indian Youth Congress (IYC) president Srinivas B V and several other leaders and workers were detained here by the police on Tuesday during a protest against the rising prices of fuel and ''growing unemployment'' in the coastal state.

Police said the leaders were detained when they tried to march towards the official residence of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. Goa Pradesh Youth Congress Committee chief Varad Mardolkar told PTI that several leaders, including Srinivas and Goa Pradesh Congress Committee working president Aleixo Sequeira, were detained by the police at the Azad Maidan.

Mardolkar claimed the police lathi-charged the protesters.

“We decided to march towards the official residence of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant from the protest site when we were lathi-charged,” he said.

Mardolkar said more than 30 leaders, including Assam Youth Congress president Kamrul Islam Choudhary, were taken into custody.

Indian Youth Congress leaders had come to Goa to attend the national executive meeting of the youth wing of the Congress party which concluded on Monday. A senior police officer told PTI that these leaders and other persons were trying to proceed towards the residence of the chief minister located in Altinho area but were stopped by the police. ''They were detained as they pushed policemen,'' he said. Former Goa chief minister and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Digambar Kamat, said the action against Youth Congress leaders was unwarranted.

“When I was CM I faced several agitations. But we never resorted to such kind of action,” Kamat told reporters. He alleged the BJP government in Goa was afraid to face the reality and was ''trying to suppress the Opposition''.