DHAKA: Varanasi, the most hotly contested territory in this election, turned into a flashpoint Wednesday between the Election Commission and the BJP after the party’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, was refused permission for three events on Thursday.

A seething BJP said this amounts to a ban on Modi in his own constituency, which votes on May 12, reports NDTV.

Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley, who sent three letters to the Election Commission Wednesday protesting the lack of clearances, said that he will lead demonstrations Thursday morning outside the Benares Hindu University.

He also announced that since Modi is not being allowed to hold a rally, he will land at the helipad at the university and then travel by road to the party’s headquarters to meet with workers.

Jaitley also rejected the claim by the Election Commission’s representative, Returning Officer Pranjal Yadav that the BJP has agreed to a new venue for Modi’s rally.

Demanding the removal of Yadav for blatant ‘bias’, Jaitley asked, ‘Are we out of our mind to ask for a venue that can hold only 2,000 people?’

The Election Commission said this evening that it did not accept insinuations of bias.

It also promised that ‘if any officer is found wanting or working in a partisan manner, the EC will take appropriate action’.

BDST: 2047 HRS, MAY 07, 2014