Varun Gandhi barred from addressing rally in Bareilly

Lucknow/New Delhi, May 10 (IANS) Varun Gandhi was Sunday prohibited from addressing a rally in Faridpur area of Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district as authorities feared it could lead to a law and order problem. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Pilibhit made a representation to the Election Commission against the move.

'We felt that Varun's rally could create a law and order problem in the district and, therefore, barred him from addressing the rally in Faridpur area,' district magistrate R. Ramesh Kumar told IANS on telephone.

After prohibiting Varun Gandhi from holding the rally in Faridpur, the district authorities permitted him to hold a rally at a distance from the area.

'We have told Varun that he can hold the rally about 20 km away from Faridpur,' said Kumar.

Varun Gandhi was to address the rally in Faridpur to garner support for Santosh Gangwar, the BJP candidate for the Bareilly parliamentary seat. Bareilly is about 250 km from Lucknow. Faridpur comes under Aonla constituency from where Varun's mother Maneka Gandhi is contesting the polls.

The young BJP candidate later Sunday made a representation to the Election Commission in New Delhi against the Bareilly district administration's decision to cancel his rally in Faridpur area based on a 'malicious and tendentious news report'.

'Basing themselves entirely on a false report, and without any reference to facts on the ground, the district administration in Bareilly acted in a politically biased manner by arbitrarily cancelling a major rally to be addressed by Maneka Gandhi and Varun Gandhi at Faridpur in Aonla parliamentary constituency,' the representation said.

'Permission for this rally had been obtained five days earlier and all arrangements had been completed,' Varun said in his representation. He added that the sub-divisional magistrate, directed by the district magistrate (Bareilly) and divisional commissioner 'arbitrarily' withdrew the permission 'suddenly' quoting the 'false' report.

The media had reported that the young leader in an interview to the London-based Daily Telegraph had said that he was in favour of reviving his father, the late Sanjay Gandhi's controversial population control policies. Dean Nelson, South Asia editor of the daily, said the media wrongly reported his interview on Varun Gandhi.

Varun Gandhi, the BJP candidate from Pilibhit Lok Sabha seat, said 'immense harm has been caused by this unjust order' and added that it is apprehended that 'further mischief may be made by the same administration in these final two days of campaigning'.

The representation requested the Election Commission to 'ensure that the constitutional right of Maneka and Varun to convey their message of hope and change to their electorate not be arbitrarily and summarily prevented by such misuse of administrative authority, based on materials that have been shown to be false and fabricated'.