File Image of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath | Photo Credit: ANI

​Kolkata: The Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government, on Sunday, denied permission for the landing of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's chopper at Balurghat ahead of his rally in the state. According to UP Chief Minister Office, the permission has been declined without any prior notice, news agency ANI reported.

Adityanath will address the rally via telephone call, sources told Times Now.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) criticised the move, terming it a "murder of democracy". “We asked for the permission for the landing of the chopper and holding rallies but we haven't got it till now. Since yesterday, they have been saying that they will grant permission, but they haven’t granted yet. This is an undemocratic move by the Mamata government. This is a murder of democracy. I condemn it. I also urge the people of the state to vote against this undemocratic party,” BJP MP Kailash Vijayvargiya told Times Now.

Earlier in January, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in the state allegedly denied permission to BJP president Amit Shah’s chopper from landing in the Malda airstrip ahead of his rally due to some upgradation work.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off BJP’s poll campaign in the state for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on Saturday with addressing public rallies in Thakurnagar and Durgapur.

The TMC and BJP governments have been at the loggerheads ever since Chief Minister Mamata denied permission for holding saffron party’s 40-day long ‘rath yatra’ or the chariot rally in the state, asserting that the programme would trigger violence.

In January, the BJP moved a fresh application in the Supreme Court seeking permission for a 12-day long ‘rath yatra’. As per the revised proposal for the yatra, the BJP has planned to hold rallies in four places- Birbhum, Coochbehar, Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas and Krishnanagar in Naida.