New Delhi: In a show of strength on the first day of the Winter Session of Parliament, a large number of BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) activists led by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and party President L K Advani today (Dec 1, 2004) took to the Capital's streets and courted arrest protesting rising prices.

The leaders were arrested at the Ambedkar stadium in central Delhi, which was turned into a temporary jail, as they marched from the Ramlila Maidan towards the Parliament House. Later they were released, police said.

"This Government has no Economic Policy and is unable to take any decision. It does not know what shape is to be given to the country's future," Vajpayee said addressing a mammoth rally at the Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi, prior to the march.

He said that the common man was at the receiving end due to the "instability in the market and frequent changes in Government decisions."

Taking a dig at Congress president Sonia Gandhi who had pooh-poohed his Government's plans to achieve a growth rate of 8 per cent as 'Mungeri Lal's' beautiful dreams, he said, "We only see those dreams which we can realise."

Making a scathing attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Advani said, "It is for the first time that we have a Prime Minister who does not have the last word... there is a SPM (Super Prime Minister) and CPM (Communist Party of India-Marxist) above him.