File photo of BJP leader Varun Gandhi
The Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh, singed by the communal clashes in Muzaffarnagar, has cancelled permission for a BJP rally to be addressed by Varun Gandhi and LK Advani near Agra on Sunday.
Agra District Magistrate Zuher Bin Sagar has reportedly said that the BJP rally was to be held in an area dominated by the communities that were involved in the Muzaffarnagar violence.
At least 40 people have been killed in the rioting triggered on Saturday after a public meeting called to demand justice for two Jat brothers who were lynched after they killed a young Muslim man for allegedly stalking their sister.
Agra, a traditionally strong Jat area of Uttar Pradesh, is about 300 km from Muzaffarnagar, and about 320 km from state capital Lucknow. The BJP had reportedly been preparing for the rally for a month.
BJP general secretary Varun Gandhi, who was one of the main speakers in the 'Swabhiman' (self-respect) rally, had in the run-up to the 2009 elections, faced charges of making a hate-speech targeting Muslims. The firebrand leader was acquitted of those charges this year.
LK Advani is also scheduled to attend the rally, but he is currently preparing to attend a key party meeting this evening preceding the announcement of Narendra Modi as the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate. Mr Advani has made it clear that he will oppose the announcement, which is set to cause fireworks in the meeting.
Warned by the Centre against lingering communal tension in many areas, the UP government has also cracked down on the VHP - an affiliate of the BJP - which wants to perform a ritual today to mark the end of a controversial yatra that had failed to take off from Ayodhya on August 25.
Over a dozen VHP leaders were arrested today and some 60 religious leaders were arrested on Thursday, along with top VHP leaders like Swami Chinmayananda and Ram Vas Vedanti.
The yatra was seen as the VHP's attempt to bring the Ram temple back on the agenda ahead of polls due in May and reviving an emotive poll plank for the BJP.