Kejriwal claims denied permission for rally by Delhi Police at BJP's behest

Aam Aadmi Party convener and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Saturday claimed that he was denied permission for a rally in Sant Nagar Chowk here by the Delhi Police at the behest of the BJP.

Police, however, said the permission for the proposed public meeting was not given as the site witnesses heavy traffic snarls and huge footfall of people on weekends due to weekly market.

They said they had proposed an alternative venue which was 150 metres away from the site.

"BJP gets my public rally cancelled today thro police. Police denies permission. How many BJP rallies were denied permission by police in Delhi in last 5 yrs? (sic)" Kejriwal said in a tweet.

He said the people will teach the BJP a lesson for not fulfilling its promise of granting full statehood to Delhi.

Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh said the BJP has "accepted defeat" ahead of the Lok Sabha polls and does not want that a free and fair election takes place.

"Our campaign was to get started and the Delhi Police cancelled our permission. At the same place, BJP leader Harsh Vardhan's rally was held. How he got a permission but we were not given a permission," he told reporters.

Singh said the party has sought an appointment with the Election Commission to demand immediate removal of the people responsible for cancellation of the AAP rally.

"We will also demand to probe BJP's role in getting our rallies cancelled," he added.