This realisation also appears to have dawned on other stakeholders in the state. The SP, which had joined the Congress this morning to protest against the law and order problems in the state, made a U-turn by evening with party leader Ram Gopal Yadav issuing a statement that the BSP and the Congress were hand-in-glove and the incident involving Joshi was a “drama”.

Similarly, there was confusion in the BJP rank and file. While Maneka Gandhi demanded the dismissal of Mayawati government, the party changed its line a few hours later, demanding an unconditional apology from Congress president Sonia Gandhi for Joshi’s remarks.

Gandhi who was said to have disapproved of Joshi’s remarks in her meeting with senior party office-bearers expressed “deep pain and anguish” over the events in UP. She has asked for the tapes of the recording of Joshi’s alleged remarks against Mayawati.

“Whatever has happened in UP is very unfortunate. The Congress president has expressed her deep pain and anguish over the events that have taken place in UP,” said AICC

general secretary Janardan Dwivedi. Asked if Gandhi would ask Joshi to step down, he said: “In any political organisation, decisions are taken only after considering all aspects of the problem, and not in a hurry. She is in jail right now. Any decision will be taken only hearing her version and explanation. The same thing could have been said without using those words.”

Party sources, however, said that the leadership was unlikely to take any action against her.

Digvijay Singh, AICC general secretary in charge of UP, said that while the party disowned Joshi’s remarks, there remained the issue of action against those who had ransacked Joshi’s house and set it on fire. The Congress has launched a complaint against BSP MLA Jitendra Singh alias Babloo and other BSP workers in connection with this incident.

Earlier in Lucknow, Mayawati questioned Gandhi’s “silence” over Joshi’s remarks. “The most painful thing is that Sonia Gandhi has remained silent on the issue. She has neither condemned this humiliating, uncivilised and derogatory statement nor has she taken any action against her at the party level. This clearly shows that the humiliating statement by Joshi was made at the instance of Congress High Command,” she told a press conference, adding that the comments were “not at all pardonable”.

Claiming that BSP men were not involved in the attack on Joshi’s house, Mayawati said, “there is a doubt of the hand of Congress itself in the incident”. The government, she said, had ordered an impartial inquiry into the incident.

In Moradabad, Joshi was produced before Chief Judicial Magistrate Kshitij Kumar Srivastava around 8.30 am at his residence and sent to judicial custody for 14 days. Her lawyers objected to the hearing at the CJM residence as the court was open today. At 9 am, Bahuguna entered the district prison in Moradabad.

Additional district judge-II Sudha Sharma deferred the hearing of the bail application of Joshi — the UPCC chief was detained by Ghaziabad police late last night and later arrested by Moradabad police for her alleged derogatory remarks — till Friday morning besides rejecting her interim bail application.

Moradabad MP Mohammed Azharuddin alleged that the BSP was conspiring against the UPCC president. “The prosecution lawyers failed to produce the case diary in front of ADJ-II because of which the bail application was denied today. She will have to spend a night in prison. Now the hearing is postponed till tomorrow morning,” he said.

Congress workers across UP gathered to protest against Joshi’s arrest. Hundreds from Noida, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Meerut and other regions were detained in Moradabad for telling shopkeepers to call a bandh.