BJP face-off with Election Commision over Narendra Modi's Varanasi rally

Varanasi: The holy city of Varanasi turned into a flashpoint on Wednesday after BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was refused permission to hold rallies on Thursday while the Election Commission cleared Rahul Gandhi’s roadshow here on May 10.

The district administration also refused Mr Modi permission to offer prayers at Assi Ghat. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, who is also a candidate here, had, incidentally, recently held aarti at the same ghat.

The three events for which the EC denied permission a rally, a puja on the banks of the Ganga and a meeting with citizens at a five-star hotel were planned well in advance, the BJP said. In two different letters to the Election Commission, the BJP has asked that the official who denied permission be recalled immediately for demonstrating blatant “bias”.

(Read: EC surprised, disappointed over BJP decision to hold protests)

In a fresh development late on Wednesday evening, though, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley wrote to the commission withdrawing all previous applications seeking permission for Mr Modi’s rallies.

Varanasi is, thus, set for a showdown as Mr Jaitley made it clear in the latest letter that the BJP would not need any permission for its protest programme. BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, meanwhile, said in New Delhi that other party leaders will also protest outside the Election Commission headquarters.