Patna, Mar 22 (IANS): The district administration in Patna has denied permission to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) to carry out it protest on Tuesay, scuttling the party's 'Vidhan Sabha Gherao' campaign.

The RJD had announced the protest a few days ago and all its leaders had been preparing for it since then.

The opposition RJD is protesting against rising crime, depleting health infrastructure and unavailability of jobs in the state.

Unfazed, RJD leaders threatened to organise the protest march at the scheduled time.

Chandrashekher Singh, DM of Patna said that the permission has been denied because of rising cases of Corona. Also, it could lead to deterioration in law and order in the city.

"We have a dedicated dharna spot at Gardanibagh in Patna where we are ready to give them permission. Apart from that place, we will not give permission to any political of civil organisation to organise a protest. We have informed the RJD about it in writing," Singh said.

Mritunjay Tiwari, the national spokesperson of RJD, said: "The Nitish Kumar government is disturbed over the scheduled protest by the RJD. Hence, on the directions of CM Nitish Kumar, the Patna administration has denied permission for the Vidhan Sabha gherao. We have openly challenged the NDA government to do whatever they want. We will hit the streets tomorrow."