Amit Shah Agra rally cancelled

BJP president Amit Shah has called off his Agra visit, scheduled for Sunday, in the wake of protests by dalits.

Mr Shah was supposed to participate in a rally by Buddhist monk and former MP Dhamma Viriyo, who has been leading the Dhamma Chetna Yatra in dalit- OBC pockets of Uttar Pradesh to muster support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Dalit groups and BSP workers have been protesting against the BJP after the Dayashankar Singh episode in which the latter used derogatory language in reference to BSP president Mayawati.

Party sources said that protests have been taking place in Aligarh and now Agra which has forced the cancellation of Mr Shah’s visit.

However, senior BJP leader from Uttar Pradesh Siddharth Nath Singh on Saturday denied that Mr Shah’s visit to Agra was cancelled because of dalit protests. “It was cancelled because the ground where he was to hold the

Amit Shah was supposed to participate in a rally by Buddhist monk and former MP Dhamma Viriyo, who has been leading the Dhamma Chetna Yatra in dalit- OBC pockets of UP

rally is submerged because of the rains. It has nothing to do with dalit protests,” Mr Singh said. On July 24, when the yatra reached Aligarh, a group of Buddhist monks who were part of it had asked local BJP leaders to leave following a protest by dalits and Jatavs, who had gathered at the venue to welcome the yatra.

The dalits and Jatavs were reportedly unhappy with the presence of BJP leaders at the event, which ultimately caused considerable embarrassment to party leaders.

BJP state spokesperson Chandra Mohan said BJP national general secretary Arun Singh and party state president Keshav Prasad Maurya will attend the Agra rally and also address a meeting at Saraswati Shishu Mandir.