Full access granted to Rahul for Mandsaur rally

The Mandsaur district administration on Wednesday issued a new order on Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s June 6 rally in Pipliya Mandi village, granting the leader full access to go ahead with the event.

The new order was issued cancelling an earlier order that set 19 conditions for the Congress president’s rally, which is being organised to mark the first death anniversary of six farmers who were killed in police firing during a protest in Mandsaur.

“It [earlier order] was a technical mistake made by a clerical staff. Probably by mistake they issued the set of orders which are usually meant for dharna and pradarshan [protest]. We have issued a fresh order today for them [Congress] to hold a rally at Pipliya Mandi,” Mandsaur Collector Om Prakash Shrivastav told The Hindu over the phone.

Earlier, the sub-divisional officer of Malhargarh had issued a set of 19 conditions for Mr. Gandhi to follow during the rally. In his written order, the officer had directed the organisers to construct a tent of not more than 15 ft x 15 ft frame for the rally, restricted the use of DJ sound system, permitted the use of loudspeakers within the range of 7.5 decibel to 10 decibel, and issued orders on arrangement of electricity, parking and even fire engines for the event.

The order had triggered a furore with the State unit of the Congress claiming that the BJP-led Madhya Pradesh government was trying to disturb Mr. Gandhi’s event through such conditions.