NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party convener and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday alleged that permission for his rally at Sant Nagar Chowk was denied by the Delhi Police at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Police, however, said the permission for the proposed public meeting was not given as the site witnesses heavy traffic snarls and huge footfall of people on weekends due to the weekly market.
“BJP gets my public rally cancelled today thro police. Police denies permission. How many BJP rallies were denied permission by police in Delhi in last 5 yrs? (sic),” Kejriwal tweeted.
The police said they had proposed an alternative venue, which was 150 metres away from the site.
“Sant Nagar Chowk is a busy intersection, which was not found fit for a proposed public meeting. Traffic remains heavy in the area due to weekly market. The permission was sought for 2,000 people with around 1,000 seats and pandal. The decision was conveyed to the party on March 30. No objection for alternate site, which is 150 metre away, has also been conveyed,” said a senior police officer.
Upset with the police objection, Kejriwal claimed the people would teach the BJP a lesson for not fulfilling its promise of granting full statehood to Delhi.
Training his guns on the BJP, senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh said the BJP has “accepted defeat” ahead of the Lok Sabha polls and does not want that a free and fair election takes place. “Our campaign was to get started and the Delhi Police cancelled our permission. At the same place, BJP leader Harsh Vardhan’s rally was held.
How he got permission but we were not given permission?” he told reporters. Singh said the party has sought an appointment with the Election Commission to demand the immediate removal of the people responsible for the cancellation of the AAP rally. “We will also demand to probe BJP’s role in getting our rallies cancelled.”
BJP vice-president Shyam Jaju said, “Kejriwal does not care about the sanctity of the CM’s post. The EC has laid down a procedure for these gatherings when the MCC is in force. It is very clear that common man does not appreciate this kind of politics. They will certainly its reply in the upcoming elections,” the BJP leader said.