Lucknow, October 12: The Uttar Pradesh government Wednesday evening gave its go-ahead to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran L.K. Advani’s Jan Chetna Yatra for holding a rally at Mughal Sarai in Varanasi district, about 300 km from here.
The Varanasi district administration, that had withdrawn permission for holding the Advani rally following refusal by the Indian Railways to allow any political function on their ground, eventually gave its nod after the railways reversed its decision.
‘We had withdrawn the permission only because the railways – the owners of the venue – had flatly refused to allow any political event there. But now that they have given their go-ahead, why should we have any objection,’ Varanasi Superintendent of Police Navin Jindal told reporters.
Advani’s rally was in for roadblocks after roadblocks right from the outset. Initially the air-conditioning of the bus developed some defect following which BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley got unwell. Then, the bus was replaced, but the new one got stuck under a bridge and could not be move without damaging the top portion of the vehicle.
Then logistics came in the way later with the railway authorities telling the organisers that they could not permit a political rally on railway property, slated for late Wednesday evening.
The BJP leadership trained its guns on both the Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
‘The railway ministry’s sudden change of mind reflects the thinking of the UPA leadership, which cannot digest the extent of support that the Advani yatra has evoked among common people,’ remarked a BJP spokesman.
—-IANS—-