Modi rally in Delhi today,Congress tells poll panel: BJP can’t use Red Fort

“Red Fort is a national monument and government property which cannot be used by BJP for election campaign directly or indirectly,” AICC (legal department) secretary K C Mittal said in a formal complain to Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath.

Mittal asked Sampath to issue necessary orders to prohibit the BJP from such use of the Red Fort.

The BJP hit back by targeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who cancelled his public address in Delhi on Saturday. The Congress sought to play down the taunt,claiming it was the Prime Minister’s Office that took the decision. According to the Congress,the PM was busy on Saturday since Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko were reaching the Capital.

The BJP claimed that the Congress cancelled Singh’s rally as it coincided with Modi’s public address. “First of all,it was not the Congress which cancelled the rally but the Prime Minister’s Office. Congress workers were very excited about the Prime Minister’s proposed rally and they are a bit disappointed and hurt after the cancellation. But this is also true that the Prime Minister has his engagements,” Shakeel Ahmed,AICC general secretary in-charge for Delhi,said.

The PM was to address a rally in Tilak Nagar which,in August this year,witnessed clashes between members of the Sikh and Valmiki communities.

The BJP announced that a Modi rally too had been cancelled. Party leader Anil Jain,in charge of rallies of national leaders in Delhi,alleged that its prime ministerial candidate’s rally in the New Delhi assembly constituency had to be cancelled since police refused to give clearance.

“For Modiji’s November 30 rally,we wanted to hold the rally at one of the three places — Sarojini Nagar,Laxmibai Nagar or Sansad Marg. Delhi Police asked us to schedule it on December 1. After confirmation from the party,we approached police to give us approval for December 1. The police told us that none of the places were available for the rally. The police then asked us to do it at Jantar Mantar. But we did not want to hold a rally there since the place cannot accommodate a large crowd,” Jain said.