The Congress said that Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi’s visit to West Bengal on Thursday to campaign for the Assembly elections had to be cancelled after the administration allegedly denied permission, The Telegraph reported.

Gandhi was to address a rally in Kolkata and another in Serampore, unidentified members of the party told the newspaper.

Bengal Congress chief Subhankar Sarkar said that Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee had on April 8 addressed a rally at the venue, The Telegraph reported. “But for Rahul Gandhi’s meeting we did not get permission,” he added.

Sarkar alleged that the party’s candidates were also being denied permission to hold large meetings.

ANI quoted unidentified Congress members as having alleged that the administration and the police were acting at the behest of the state’s Trinamool Congress government and had denied the permissions for Gandhi’s visit.

The West Bengal Police and the administration are reporting to the Election Commission as the Model Code of Conduct is in force in the state for the polls.

The first phase of polling will be held on April 23 and the second on April 29. The votes will be counted on May 4.

While the Trinamool Congress and the Congress are part of the Opposition INDIA bloc at the Centre, they are not contesting the West Bengal polls as allies.

Responding to the alleged denial of permission for Gandhi’s rallies, state minister Shashi Panja said that the Election Commission had the power to grant approvals.

“All applications for public meetings need to be sent through the Suvidha portal within two to seven days,” The Telegraph quoted the Trinamool Congress leader as saying. “This rule applies to all public meetings. All political parties need to take permission like this.”

He said that the caretaker government cannot answer why permission was not granted, adding that only the poll panel can.

BJP leader Dilip Ghosh said that the matter was in the hands of the Election Commission, IANS reported. “They [Congress] should approach the Election Commission and make a request,” he told the news agency.

Banerjee claims permission denied for her rally

Banerjee claimed that the Election Commission had denied her permission to hold a public meeting in the Collin Lane area in Kolkata, ANI reported on Tuesday.

The chief minister alleged that the poll panel had instead prioritised an election meeting being held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Addressing a gathering in the Jorasanko Assembly constituency, the chief minister said that she would not have given it a second thought if a political party had been denied permission at Collin Lane.

“But I was explicitly told [by the Election Commission], ‘We will not grant you permission’,” the news agency quoted her as having claimed. “You denied permission for my meeting, yet you prioritise the prime minister’s meeting within six hours.”

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