Advani's rally at Azamgarh called off

Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani's scheduled election rally on March 28 in Azamgarh district in Uttar Pradesh has been cancelled, sources said on Wednesday.

The rally was called off as the district administration denied permission to hold the rally, citing security reasons, BJP district president Vinod Rai said.

"We have informed the state party chief about the district administration's decision," he said.

However, District Magistrate GS Priyardarshi denied the charges and claimed that permission had been granted for holding the rally at Hafizpur and there were no security concerns. He added that it was the BJP's decision to call off the rally. Azamgarh, in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, has been in the news for the arrests of a number of youths on terror charges, following the Batla House encounter in New Delhi.

Sixteen districts in the region are going to polls in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on April 16.