Trinamul said on Wednesday that it was refused on Monday by Delhi Police — which reports to Union home minister Amit Shah — the use of the Ramlila Maidan in the national capital as the venue for the party’s proposed mega anti-Centre rally on Gandhi Jayanti to be attended by Mamata Banerjee.

The party, which sniffed in the denial — citing lack of time — a political motive, will either move court against the decision or change its plans, subject to a nod from Mamata.

Trinamul state general-secretary Kunal Ghosh said the party filed an application on August 23 for permission from Delhi Police to use the Ramlila Maidan between September 30 and October 4.

“There was to be a dharna by our workers and leaders, with the main programme, a public meeting, on October 2.... Suddenly, on August 28, Delhi Police sent us a letter, stating we should have tried making this booking with more time in hand,” said Ghosh.

The programme, for which Trinamul targeted several lakh workers and supporters from Bengal, would have to be re-drawn with either a new structure or venue. As another option, the party could move court against the decision of Delhi Police.

“Obviously, there is a political motive...,” said Trinamul state vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar.

The idea of the “Abar Delhi Cholo (Let’s go to Delhi again)” event was floated by Trinamul national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on March 29, at a public meeting in Calcutta, and endorsed a day later by Mamata at the end of her 31-hour Red Road dharna against Bengal's "stepmotherly" treatment by the BJP-led Centre.

In their Martyrs’ Day speeches on July 21, the duo announced that the event would be used to demand not only funds due to Bengal by the Centre to the tune of over Rs 1.15 lakh crore, but also the ouster of the Narendra Modi government.

Deputy commissioner (central Delhi) Sanjay Kumar Sain told The Telegraph that Trinamul applied for permission on Wednesday evening. "We received their application around 7pm today. How can they say they have been denied permission? It is absurd. There is a procedure for it as their request will be examined and a decision is taken only after that," he said.

Trinamul's Majumdar called it a "knee-jerk" reaction.