The BJP on Wednesday claimed that its Telangana president Bandi Sanjay Kumar has been arrested on "baseless" charges as part of the state government's diversionary tactics due to "leakage and package" allegations against the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi.

Senior BJP leader K Laxman linked the arrest of Kumar, a Lok Sabha MP, to the party's agitation over the issue of the leak of question papers of competitive exams which have hit the future of millions of job-seekers in the state.

Citing reports, Laxman claimed that besides the leak issue, the matter of the "package" has also hit the state government hard.

The package, Laxman alleged, is the reported offer by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao that he has the package to finance a joint opposition campaign against the BJP if he is elected as their chairperson.

"The government is becoming most unpopular. It is mired in scams and has resorted to Sanjay Kumar's undemocratic arrest in an illegal manner to divert people's attention," the Rajya Sabha member said.

Laxman said if Kumar is not immediately released, then the BJP will launch a state-wide campaign from Thursday.

Sanjay Kumar was detained by the police in Telangana in the early hours of Wednesday, triggering protests by his party workers.

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