AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, whose party is looking to make inroads into Uttar Pradesh, has been refused permission by the local administration to hold a rally here on March 15 following which his supporters have alleged that such hurdles were being created at the behest of the SP government in the state.
Even as the local administration cited "apprehensions of law and order disturbances" to deny its nod to the Hyderabad MP, supporters of AIMIM threatened to move Allahabad High Court against the decision.
According to Additional District Magistrate (City), SK Sharma, permission could not be granted for the public meeting on Sunday at any of the proposed sites "following reports of the local intelligence unit of the police which expressed apprehensions of law and order disturbances in the wake of a speech by the AIMIM leader".
However, the city convener of AIMIM, Afsar Mahmood, charged that the local administration "was acting upon instructions received from the Samajwadi Party government in the state, especially Cabinet minister Azam Khan, who is scared of Owaisi's growing popularity among the Muslims of UP".
"Khan and his ilk are nervous as Owaisi has been calling the bluff of the SP leaders in UP," Mahmood said.
He claimed that the huge turnouts at the AIMIM chief's public meetings across UP had proved beyond doubt that Muslims in the state were not beholden to SP, "contrary to what its leaders like to believe".
"We are not going to take this (denial of permission) lying down. We will be moving Allahabad High Court against the administrative order whereby permission has been refused for Owaisi's public meeting," said Mahmood.
