BJP went for a showdown with the Election Commission today protesting in Varanasi and in Delhi against its move to refuse permission for Narendra Modi's rally in the holy city. Hitting out at the poll body, BJP leader Arun Jaitley today termed the Commission as timid.
Jaitley wrote on his blog that timid men can dwarf high offices and said men in constitutional offices need to be bolder. Party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said by denying permission to the rally, the poll body has surrendered before the Uttar Pradesh government.
In a message on Twitter today, Modi questioned the poll body's neutrality over the denial of permission for the rally at a venue of his choice in Varanasi. The Varanasi District administration had given permission to BJP to hold four of the five functions scheduled to be attended by its leader Narendra Modi in the city today.
BJP, however, cancelled three of the five functions citing delay in granting permission by the District Magistrate. Modi is contesting against AAP's Arvind Kejriwal and Congress' Ajay Rai from this Parliamentary constituency. BJP had earlier sought permission to hold a public rally at crowded Veeniya Bagh area, but the Returning Officer Pranjal Yadav denied it citing security reasons.
Meanwhile, security outside the Election Commission building in the national capital, has been beefed up. Delhi Police has put up barricades outside the Commission's main entrance. The adjoining Parliament street has also been barricaded, causing traffic jam in the area.
BJP sought immediate action by the Election Commission against the Varanasi District Magistrate for denying permission to Narendra Modi to hold a rally in the city. A six-member delegation of the party led by Venkaiah Naidu met the Commission and demanded dismissal of the Magistrate accusing him of acting in a partisan manner. Talking to reporters after the meeting, Naidu said the Commission assured the delegation that it will examine the matter.
Earlier, party workers marched towards the Commission's office and tried to protest but were stopped a little away. The protest ended peacefully amid heavy security deployment in and around the area.
In Uttar Pradesh, the standoff between the BJP and district election office Varanasi continues as thousands of party supporters are gathered in the city. The administration has deployed Rapid Action Force and police personnel to diffuse any untoward incident in Varanasi where Modi is to reach after some time.
Our Lucknow correspondent reports that senior BJP leaders Arun Jaitley, Ananth Kumar and Amit Shah have started their Dharna at the gate of BHU with demand of immediate removal of DM and District Election Officer Pranjal Yadav. They are protesting against the alleged partisan attitude of DEO of Varanasi.
The atmosphere is somewhat surcharged as thousands of BJP supportes are sloganeering against the local administration. Meanwhile security has been beefed up in all the sensitive areas of Varanasi. As of now, the chaos prevails in the religious city of Banaras and the district administration is on its toes to avert any untoward situation.
