No permission to Nitin Gadkari, but Mamata Banerjee may hold a rally in Malda

Malda: Days after after a team of BJP MPs was denied permission to visit violence-hit Kaliachak in West Bengal's Malda district, senior party leader and  Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari was on Wednesday denied permission to hold a rally in the area on January 18.

However, West Bengal's CM Mamata Banerjee is expected to visit Malda for a rally on January 21, a report in India Today said.

Malda's district administration has cited law and order issue to deny permission for Nitin Gadkari's rally.\

BJP has accused Mamata Banerjee government of shielding the accused of Malda violence and indulging to 'appeasement politics' to woo Muslims ahead of Assembly elections.

Earlier, a 'fact-finding' team of BJP MPs was stopped from visiting violence-hit Kaliachak by district authorities and turned back from the railway station. The move intensified the war of words between the party and ruling Trinamool Congress in poll-bound West Bengal.