Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and former deputy prime minister Lal Kishenchand Advani on Wednesday courted arrest in Bangalore as part of the Bharatiya Janata Party's 'satyagraha' to demand withdrawal of cases against former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharti.

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They were released after being taken to police stations.

Soon after his speech at the site of the 'satyagraha', Advani courted arrest along with party vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, BJP Karnataka unit president Ananth Kumar and opposition leader in the assembly B S Yediyurappa.

The Karnataka government has already made moves to withdraw the cases against Bharti. It submitted before the high court on Monday that it stood by a 2002 cabinet decision to withdraw the cases.

Bharti is facing charges of attempt to murder and rioting filed against her after she defied curfew in Hubli in 1994 to hoist the Tricolour at the disputed Idgah Maidan.