UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath denied permission to address rally in West Bengal

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Office on Sunday released a statement saying that the West Bengal government has denied permission for Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's rally in West Bengal without any prior notice. Yogi Adityanath was scheduled to address a rally in West Dinajpur, West Bengal, on Sunday.

According to news agency ANI, Mritunjay Kumar, the Information Advisor to CM Yogi Adityanath said, "Ye UP CM ki lokpriyata ka hi asar hai ki Mamata Banerjee [West Bengal CM] ne helicopter landing ka permission tak nahi diya [It is because of UP CM Yogi Adityanath's popularity that Mamata Banerjee even denied his helicopter from landing in West Bengal]."

Mritunjay Kumar, Information Advisor to CM Yogi Adityanath: Ye UP CM ki lokpriyata ka hi asar hai ki Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal CM) ne helicopter landing ka permission tak nahi diya. — ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) 3 February 2019

Meanwhile, BJP leaders and supporters in South Dinajpur gheraoed the District Magistrate outside his bungalow in Balurghat for denying permission to Yogi Adityanath’s chopper to land at Balurghat airport. 

BJP leaders claimed that DM is neither co-operating nor giving a satisfactory reason for denying permission.

Earlier it was planned that Yogi Adityanath's helicopter will land at Raigunj and he will travel to Balurghat by road and then return to Raigunj to address his second public meeting before leaving for Uttar Pradesh in the helicopter but the Uttar Pradesh has now decided to address the rally through mobile phone.

It may be recalled that a few days ago, BJP President Amit Shah's chopper was also denied permission to land in West Bengal to address an election rally.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had addressed two rallies in West Bengal - one in Thakurganj and one in Durgapur. During his rally in industrial city of Durgapur, the Prime Minister had accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of following into the footsteps of the previous Communist government to trample democracy. He stressed that Mamata should know that this did not work during Left regime and it will not work now.

The Prime Minister also said that infrastructure projects worth Rs 90,000 crore have been approved by the Centre in the past four and a half years for West Bengal but the TMC government did not take interest in implementing them as it wanted a share for the "syndicate".

"TMC doesn't take interest in initiating development projects where there is no share for the syndicate...Where there is no 'malai' (cream)," he said.

PM Modi remarked that the TMC is "killing" the dreams and aspirations of the middle class in Bengal. The Prime Minister also praised the BJP workers for bravely facing the violent attacks by the TMC cadre. He added that their sacrifice will not go waste as the BJP will form government in the state in future.

Prime Minister Modi also accused the TMC government of imposing Trinamool Tolabaji Tax (TTT) in the state. “Trinamool Tolabaji Tax is prevalent in the state. Every child in West Bengal is aware of this TTT. West Bengal is the only state where you have to pay tax for education. No one opposed this culture of syndicate and TTT, which is why the Trinamool Congress got a free run. But, now, the BJP will oppose this. The 'chowkidaar' has started a cleanliness drive against this culture," said the PM.

(with agency inputs)