Set For Rally in Jadavpur, Amit Shah Denied Permission by Bengal Government

Shah has also been denied permission to land his chopper. Shah was to hold two roadshows, in Jadavpur and Barasat.

New Delhi: BJP President Amit Shah has been denied the permission to hold a rally in Jadavpur, West Bengal, later on Monday, said party sources. (Catch Complete Coverage of Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Here)

ANI also reported that Shah has also been denied permission to land his chopper though media reports suggest that the permission is awaited. They said the BJP had sought permission from the owner of the land but he denied it. Shah was supposed to hold a rally in Jadavpur around 12.30PM.

If the party can get permission by then, the administration will allow helicopter landing as well.

Meanwhile, his Canning and Rajarhat programmes would go on as per the schedule.

In what has been called ‘chopper politics’, BJP leaders have been alleging that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee deliberately denies landing permission to helicopters of several saffron party leaders.

However, Banerjee has continued to dismiss the charges and has always claimed that such requests have come at the “eleventh hour”.

This is not the first time that Shah’s programme had to be cancelled for want of requisite permission. Union Minister Smriti Irani, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and former chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Arjun Munda respectively, are among those who have been denied permission to land their helicopters for addressing rallies in different locations in West Bengal.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court had asked the BJP to seek the West Bengal government’s approval for holding rath yatras in the state. The apex court asked the state government to decide BJP’s application for ‘rath yatra’.

However, the top court allowed the saffron party to hold rallies and meetings in the state. The BJP’s West Bengal unit had approached the apex court seeking permission to hold the campaign ‘Save Democracy Rally’, which would cover 42 parliamentary constituencies in the state ahead of general elections. In its plea, the BJP said their fundamental right to hold a peaceful yatra could not be withheld.

The WB BJP unit had challenged the December 21 order of a division bench of the high court which had set aside the order of a single judge allowing the yatra.