The Uttar Pradesh government has given permission to Indian against Corruption (IAC) activist Arvind Kejriwal to hold a rally against Union law minister Salman Khurshid in Farrukhabad on November 1 at the ground of the UP Housing development department.
According to highly placed sources, the state government “grudgingly gave permission” after IAC activists held a demonstration in front of the city magistrate’s office on Saturday. Earlier, the permission had been held back by the authorities.
“The situation in Farrukhabad is volatile and a faceoff between IAC activists and Khurshid supporters is inevitable. We have asked local officials to make an assessment of the situation on a daily basis and send us their report. The permission could also be withdrawn if we feel that the entire issue is taking on a communal colour,” said a senior government official.
The Akhilesh government, apparently, does not wish to be caught in a crossfire between IAC activists and Mr Khurshid.
The situation in Farrukhabad has further been aggravated by the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) that is training 1,400 farmers to ensure the security of Mr Kejriwal.
All these farmers are being taught how to use the “lathi” in a combat mode.
The state government will certainly not like to draw flak for allowing the situation to get out of hand in Farrukhabad since even a trivial incident there will get national media coverage, keeping in mind the profile of the players in the issue.
Besides, IAC supporters and two scribes from Delhi were recently roughed up by Mr Khurshid supporters when they went to Farrukhabad to collect evidence against the minister.
However, the chief minister does not want to be seen taking sides and has therefore agreed to allow the rally to be held, as of now.
“The chief minister does not wish to be seen supporting either of the parties but maintaining law and order is of prime importance and we will take any action needed for this at the appropriate time,” said a home department official.
Meanwhile, IAC activist Sanjay Singh said that Arvind Kejriwal will go to Farrukhabad via Kanpur, Unnao and Kannauj and people are expected to join him on the way.