The Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal on Friday granted permission to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to go ahead with party president J.P. Nadda’s public rally in Nadia’s Nabadwip on Saturday. Police have said permission has been granted for a public meeting in Nabadwip.
“Permission has only been given to the programme for Nadda Ji. He will address the public in a meeting. No permission has been given for the so-called Rath Yatra,” SP Krishnanagar Biswajit Ghosh was quoted as saying by India Today TV.
Nadda will inaugurate a statewide ‘Parivartan Yatra’ from Nadia and hold a roadshow in Malda on Saturday.
The BJP president will also attend the ‘Krishok Surokha Saha—Bhoj’ and visit Sri Sri Gauranga Janmasthan Ashram at Nabadwip. Nadda’s inauguration of the ‘Parivartan Yatra’ will come in the backdrop when a PIL has been filed at Calcutta High Court against the matter ahead of West Bengal polls by Advocate Rama Prasad Sarkar in view of Covid-19 and the law and order situation in the state.
Earlier in the day, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said that the court has not issued any stay order on ‘Rath Yatra’ so the district administration cannot stop it. “Court has not given the stay order on ‘Rath Yatra’ so district administration cannot stop it. As the opposition, it is our fundamental right to go to people. On 6 February party chief J.P. Nadda will inaugurate the yatra and on February 11 Home Minister Amit Shah will attend another yatra from Coochbehar,” Vijayvargiya told ANI.
Early this week, BJP West Bengal president Dilip Ghosh announced plans to roll out five ‘Parivartan Yatras’ across West Bengal from 6 February. “Five ‘yatras’ have been decided till now. The last one will go from Kakdwip to Kolkata,” Ghosh told ANI, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be invited for the conclusion of the last Rath Yatra.
He further said permission had been sought for the rath yatras from the state government, and if denied, the party may go to court. The West Bengal Assembly Elections for 294 seats are scheduled to take place this year.
