Telugu Desam party president, N. Chandrababu Naidu and local leaders of CPI and CPI (M) were arrested near Begumpet airport here when they staged a demonstration after they were denied permission to meet the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh on his arrival.
Mr. Naidu and others were planning to meet Dr. Singh to highlight the problems faced by farmers from a bumper Kharif crop and lack of godown space and harassment by micro finance institutions for recovery of loans that led to poor women committing suicides.
Dr. Singh is in Hyderabad to inaugurate a conference of scientists of developing countries and lay foundation stone for Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
The protesters were whisked away after they staged a sit-in at NTR statue near the Begumpet airport and taken to Amberpet police station. Mr. Naidu said it was unfortunate that the Government was suppressing and arresting the Opposition leaders instead of arranging a meeting with the Prime Minister to discuss farmers' concerns.
