Already half a dozen tall leaders of the party including Santosh Gangwar, former minister in the NDA government, state party president Surya Prakash Sahi and dozens of MLAs and MPs have visited the dharna site and promised all out support.

 The Agra MP Ram Shankar Katheria sat on a dharna after he was booked by the local police for several offences, causing disturbance and interfering with government work, damaging public property and creating trouble, after he led more than 150 tractors to protest against price rise and exploitation of farmers to the Collectorate a week ago.

 The BJP now wants the state government to withdraw the FIR and solve people's problems. "The district officials have gone out of their way to harass BJP workers and have singled out the MP registering false cases," leaders at the dharna site said.

 Katheria meanwhile, not getting the desired response from the administration and fearing his arrest was imminent, has announced shifting the venue of his dharna to the parliament house near Gandhi's statue. The session starts in a couple of days.

BJP workers however appear upbeat having successfully mobilized the farmers against the state government, by supporting the demand for higher compensation for the land acquired in the Etmadpur tehsil for the Jaypee group's Yamuna Expressway.

With elections for the local bodies due later this year and the assembly elections a year away, all parties have begun poll preparations in right earnest. The current movement in Agra is being seen as a warm up exercise, helping to identify probable candidates. "Those in the race are doing their best to mobilize public support and taking a leading part in the agitation," a party functionary confided.