The BJP on Monday approached the Supreme Court to seek its intervention to hold its scheduled rally in West Bengal. BJP had planned to commence the ‘Ganatantra Bachao’ Rath Yatras in the state but the division bench of Calcutta HC had overturned its earlier decision of granting permission to the BJP and put the yatras on hold last week.
West Bengal BJP files appeal in Supreme Court against Calcutta High Court division bench order refusing permission for BJP’s Yatra in the state. pic.twitter.com/rfSpPYpq13
— ANI (@ANI) December 24, 2018
The West Bengal BJP unit had moved to the Supreme Court after the proposed plan to hold Rath Yatras in the state hit a roadblock. West Bengal BJP President Dilip Ghosh has claimed that the Mamata Banerjee led government has laid impediments on the path of BJP’s Rath Yatras and is working only on the basis of assumptions.
The BJP was supposed to organise 3 Rath Yatras from different locations crisscrossing in the state before finally culminating in Kolkata. Amit Shah was supposed to flag them off and PM Modi was meant to end the campaign by addressing a rally in Kolkata. The state police and administration had then denied permission citing threats of ‘communal disharmony’ in the state.
The BJP then filed a plea in the Calcutta HC against the state government’s denial and got the permission to hold Rath Yatras in the state. However, the division bench of the court overturned the decision within 24 hours following Mamata Banerjee’s government’s urgent hearing appeal against the judgment.
Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty had on Thursday granted BJP the permission to hold rallies and asked the state police to ensure law and order. But a division bench of the HC overturned the order the very next day and put the Rath Yatras on hold.
