NAGPUR/MUMBAI, 23 November 2006 - Thousands of Samajwadi Party (SP) activists torched vehicles, pelted cars and buses with stones and damaged electricity pylons during protests yesterday.

They were protesting the refusal of permission by the Mumbai police to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav to address a rally in Mumbai on Tuesday.

The SP activists pelted buses with stones and at some places set vehicles on fire. A bus was torched on the outskirts of Nagpur city by unruly SP workers.

On Monday, some 2,000 SP workers led by Jamal Siddiqui, state unit general secretary, damaged electricity pylons in front of Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh's residence.

Siddiqui warned Deshmukh he would not be allowed to enter Nagpur for denying permission to Yadav and general secretary Amar Singh to Mumbai. Siddiqui and other SP workers were arrested by the police and produced in the court.

Referring to the attitude of the Maharashtra government toward Yadav, SP General Secretary Amar Singh criticized Congress President Sonia Gandhi and state Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.

Speaking at a press conference, Singh said, "Sonia and Deshmukh should not forget that the SP is in power in Uttar Pradesh, and we know how to pay back in the same coin."

Singh described Deshmukh as Sonia's puppet and warned that "We can retaliate by denying Sonia permission to hold rallies in Uttar Pradesh, but we won't stoop so low," he said.

Singh dared Sonia to impose federal rule in UP. "They say law and order has gone to the dogs in UP," he said. "But their own police commissioner in Mumbai has admitted that the situation is much the same in Maharashtra. So, how about president's rule in Maharashtra?"

The police had earlier denied permission to the SP to hold the rally. The party's plea in the Bombay High Court to seek permission was also rejected on Monday.

In a statement, City Police Commissioner A.N. Roy said, "Agitations and protests against the murder of four Dalits in Bhandara have caused tension. The decision to ban public meetings for 10 days on Nov. 18, under sections 144 of the CrPC, was taken by me."