Modi's Varanasi rally disallowed, BJP to protest

New Delhi/Varanasi, May 7 (IANS) BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was Wednesday denied permission to hold rallies in Varanasi and some other events, the party said, and sought removal of the city's top election official for "partiality".

Modi was denied permission for holding rallies in Varanasi city, performing Ganga arti as well as a get-together with nearly 150 prominent citizens.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley said he, Modi's aide Amit Shah, Ananth Kumar, Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Lakshmikant Bajpai and other party leaders will protest outside the Lanka Gate of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) Thursday.

Jaitley said Modi will arrive in Varanasi Thursday, and if not granted permission for the programmes, his motorcade would go from the BHU to the party's election headquarters, from where he would leave for the airport.

"We don't just doubt the impartiality of the returning officer, we are sure he is not impartial. But what pains me is that the Election Commission did not take any action despite our complaint," Jaitley said at a press conference in Varanasi.

"This is not a banana republic," he added.

At a press conference in New Delhi, BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the party was making a request to the Election Commission to recall Varanasi District Magistrate Pranjal Yadav for working in a biased and prejudiced manner against Modi.

He said party workers will stage a protest in front of the Election Commission office in Delhi Thursday morning.

Jaitley wrote three letters to the Election Commission, seeking removal of the returning officer, who is the main election official of the city.

In the first letter, Jaitley said the poll official was verbally informed May 5 about two rallies in Rohaniya and Beniyabagh. A formal application was sent May 6.

Rohaniya is a rural area on the outskirts of Varanasi, while Beniyabagh is a popular destination for political rallies in the city.

"The effort of the returning officer is to prevent Modi from campaigning in Varanasi city," Jaitley said, adding the poll official had cited security reasons.

In the second letter, Jaitley said the BJP was "verbally assured" permission for performing a Ganga arti, the ritualistic worship of the Ganga river.

"The returning officer is now informing that the permission cannot be given," he said.

The third letter said permission was denied for a meeting in the city and the BJP was asked to hold the meeting on the outskirts of Varanasi near the BHU.

BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said the Uttar Pradesh government had a hand in the denial.

"It must be for the first time in Indian elections that a candidate is being denied permission to hold rally in his own constituency," Sitharaman said at a press conference in the capital.

"The district administration is obeying some kind of order from the Samajwadi Party," she said.

Jaitley, in his letter, also said that 27 political workers were arrested while they were distributing pamphlets and were kept in custody for two and a half days that affected the party's campaign.

A senior district official said that while the rest of the programme had the approval of the authorities, Beniyabagh was a "problem" as an NGO has been given permission for an event the same day.