Latest Politics News and Updates: BJP angry over snub to Modi rally

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

BJP angry over snub to Modi rally - The Hindu

PTI BJP leader Arun Jaitley with party leaders Amit Shah and Laxmikant Bajpai (left) addresses a press conference in Varanasi on Wednesday.

A row erupted on Wednesday after the Varanasi district administration denied the Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi permission to hold one of the two proposed election meetings in the city on Thursday.

The refusal angered the BJP, which shot off a letter to the Election Commission alleging “partisan behaviour” by Returning Officer Pranjal Yadav and questioning the poll panel’s silence on the issue.

Charge of bias

But, the Election Commission rejected the BJP’s charge of bias.

“Local authorities, the district administration there, who are directly in charge of law and order, have their assessment in the matter,” Deputy Election Commissioner Vinod Zutshi told reporters in New Delhi. “The commission does not accept the insinuation of inaction or bias in this regard,” he added.

To stage protest

Senior BJP leaders Arun Jaitley, Amit Shah and Laxmikant Bajpai have decided to stage a sit-in protest at the Lanka Gate of Banaras Hindu University.

Mr. Modi, who is the BJP’s candidate from Varanasi in the ongoing Lok Sabha election, was to address two rallies in the constituency, in Beniabagh, a minority-dominated area in the heart of the city, and at Jagat Inter College Ground in Rohaniya on Banaras-Allahabad road.

The district authorities denied him permission to address the rally in Beniabagh citing security concerns. Mr. Modi was also not allowed to meet some intellectuals in the city and participate in a puja on the banks of the Ganga. He, however, was given the go-ahead for the Rohaniya rally.

RO interference

Mr. Jaitley alleged that the Returning Officer (RO) was interfering in the conduct of free and fair elections. “This is not a banana republic where a prime ministerial candidate is denied permission to campaign in his constituency,” Mr. Jaitley told reporters in Varanasi.

The party also rejected the alternative site suggested by the district administration for the meeting. Mr. Jaitley said he had written three letters to the EC but had not received any reply.

The letter said the Returning Officer was orally informed on May 5 about the rallies and formal applications were submitted the next day. It said the officer was told on May 6 that the Beniabagh Ground had been reserved by an NGO.

Application ante-dated

“The application of the NGO was ante-dated since the amount for reservation of the Beniabagh Ground had not been deposited with the treasury. The Returning Officer put a noting on the application to cover up this ante-dating by stating that he had exempted the NGO from paying the fee for the booking of the ground,” the letter claimed. (With additional reporting from New Delhi)

The Varanasi District Magistrate as well as the Additional District Magistrate (City), M.P. Singh, were not available for comment despite repeated calls on their cellphones.