The Calcutta high court on Thursday gave a green signal to the three ‘rath yatras’ which were expected to crisscross West Bengal.
The Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government had repeatedly denied the permission for holding ‘rath yatra’ claiming that it might cause “communal tension” in the state. (Read here)
The court came down heavily on the government and ruled that it would be “appropriate to permit the petitioner to hold the rally… to organize the yatras”.
The court added, “The petitioner will inform the police authorities, superintendent of the district where the ‘yatra’ shall enter, at least 12 hours before entering the concerned district. The commissioner will ensure conducting ‘yatra’ in a peaceful manner.”
The court also directed BJP to carry out ‘rath yatra’ as per the Bengal Government’s guidelines. The administration was also asked to ensure proper law and order in the state.
The rallies will be under the umbrella of “Save Democracy”. Three rallies are slated to be held by BJP– one from Cooch Behar in the northern part of Bengal, one from Kakdwip in the extreme southern part and the last one from Tarapith temple in Birbhum district. All the three would later converge in Kolkata for a massive rally.
The ‘Save Democracy’ rallies are likely to cover all the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal. Also, it is expected that Prime Minister Modi will visit Bengal to attend one of the rallies and would address the public.