Maya makes BJP call off Advani rally

The Uttar Pradesh government has forced the cancellation of a rally to be addressed by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) PM-in-waiting, LK Advani, by refusing permission for security reasons. The rally was to be held in Azamgarh in eastern UP next Saturday.

Deputy chief election officer Umesh Sinha, however, said on
Wednesday that permission had not been refused, and the BJP had only been asked to change the venue due to security reasons. Azamgarh district magistrate GS Priyadarshi also claimed that permission had not been refused.

BJP district president Vinod Rai alleged that this was the Mayawati government’s attempt at keeping the BJP away from crucial eastern UP, which has 32 Lok Sabha seats.

Sources in the UP police told DNA that there were intelligence inputs regarding the security of top leaders like LK Advani, and that Muslim-dominated Azamgarh was a “highly sensitive” location.
The BJP had proposed three places where it wanted to hold the rally, all of which were denied.