Mumbai: Police have granted permission for a public gathering to be addressed by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at Sindkhed Raja in Maharashtra's Buldhana district on January 12, an AAP leader said today. The Buldhana police had last week denied permission for Kejriwal's rally, citing "difficulty in crowd management". 

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) spokesperson Preeti Sharma Menon said today that the district police yesterday granted the permission for the event. In a tweet in Marathi, Kejriwal said, "On the occasion of Rajmata Jijau Jayanti on January 12, I am coming to Sindkhed Raja to have a dialogue with the people of Maharashtra." 

The Delhi chief minister, who is also the AAP national convener, will address the public at Sindkhed Raja on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Rajmata Jijabai, sometimes referred to as Jijau, the mother of 17th century Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. 

A function to mark her birth anniversary is held every year at Sindkhed Raja. The event is organised every year on January 11 and 12 and lakhs of people throng to Sindkhed Raja for a 'darshan' of Jijau. Four to five lakh people are expected at Sindkhed Raja this year, a police officer in Buldhana earlier said. 

Expressing displeasure over the delay in grant of permission for the rally, Menon said, "When we applied for permission in mid-December, our plea was rejected. Then we had to speak to the DG (law and order) and even I met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to get it (permission). 

"Though the chief minister was quite helpful and he spoke to Buldhana's SP, even then it took three days to get the permission in writing," she said. She said Kejriwal would arrive in Aurangabad on January 11 evening and the next day, he would head to the Jijamata Palace in Buldhana where he would seek her blessings and later address the rally.