West Bengal government denies permission for UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s rally in the state

Yogi Adityanath, Mamta Banerjee

In yet another attempt to impede political rallies of Bharatiya Janta Party in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress-led government of the state has now denied permission to UP CM Yogi Aditiynath’s rally, which was scheduled to be organised today.

https://twitter.com/ANINewsUP/status/1091920851845341185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
According to reports, the permission for the rally has been denied by the West Bengal government without any prior notice to the party. Yogi Aditynath was supposed to address two rallies in the state today. The administration also denied permission for landing of UP CM’s helicopter.

Prime Minister Modi kickstarted Lok Sabha campaign for the West Bengal on 2nd February by addressing a public rally in Thakur Nagar and at Durgapur. The rally at Durgapur was part of Bharatiya Janta Party’s ‘Gantantra Bachao’ (Save Democracy) initiative. In both rallies, PM Modi had alleged TMC of inflicting violence on BJP and also had slammed CM Banerjee for “deliberately” impeding BJP’s political rallies in the state.

Last month, West Bengal government had denied permission for Amit Shah’s chopper to land in the Malda Airport, where he was set to hold a rally on 22nd January.

In December last year, the TMC government had denied BJP permission to organize the party’s Rath Yatra, citing possible communal tension as the reason. Amit Shah had then declared to opt for a legal recourse to organise rallies in the West Bengal in the wake of persistent denial by the Mamata Banerjee government. The Supreme Court had also reserved the verdict of the division bench of HC and refused to give a go-ahead for the BJP’s rath yatra in West Bengal.

The bench led by the Chief Justice of India, while hearing BJP’s plea which said that its fundamental right to hold a peaceful yatra cannot be withheld, squashed the appeal by stating that “apprehensions expressed by the state government are not unfounded”. However, it did rule that the party can hold rallies and meetings in the state after providing the government with adequate and timely information about such events.

OpIndia Staff: Staff reporter at OpIndia