Yogi Adityanath denied permission to hold rallies in West Bengal

The rallies were a part of the BJP’s plan of organising up to 200 public meetings in the state by February 8 to boost its electoral prospects ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Amid the BJP’s ongoing tussle with the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, the state government Sunday declined the permission for Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s rally. The rallies, scheduled to be held today in Balurghat and Raigunj, were declined permission without any prior notice,

“This is the result of Adityanath’s popularity that Mamta Banerjee has not even allowed us to land the chopper,” Mritunjay Kumar, Information Advisor to Yogi Adityanath .

The rallies were a part of the BJP’s plan of organising up to 200 public meetings in the state by February 8 to boost its electoral prospects ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Apart from Adityanath, Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Smriti Irani and Dharmendra Pradhan and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj singh are among those who will address the party’s rallies in the state.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday kickstarted the saffron party’s campaign in West Bengal for the coming Lok Sabha election by addressing two rallies in Durgapur and Thakurnagar.

He also took a dig at the Opposition’s rally organised by Mamata Banerjee in which over 20 leaders from across political parties came together to take on the Modi government in Lok Sabha elections. “The people who were on the stage at Brigade didn’t use to see each other face to face 4 years ago. Now, they were hugging each other. They are afraid of this chowkidaar,” PM Modi said.

Earlier, BJP chief Amit Shah’s chopper was not given permission to land at the Malda airport in West Bengal. The BJP had initially accused the government of denying them permission to use the Malda airstrip, but West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had rubbished the claim