Saffron events face Mamata axe

Kolkata: A controversy erupted in West Bengal on Tuesday as permission to host two separate events, one featuring BJP president Amit Shah and the other RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, was allegedly denied abruptly by state authorities, sparking a war of words between the saffron brigade and the Mamata Banerjee government.

The BJP screamed “vendetta politics”, while the RSS linked it to the Trinamul government’s attempt to “appease jihadi elements”. The West Bengal government rubbished the allegations as baseless.

The BJP alleged that permission was denied to hold Mr Shah’s proposed day-long meeting with party leaders state-run Netaji Indoor Stadium between September 10 and 12, as part of his three-day state visit, despite the acceptance of the application on August 28.

After initial indications of consent, the permission was denied on the pretext of series of events scheduled at the venue through the puja season, said the state BJP.

The development came to light on a day when permission for another event, proposed to be addressed by Mr Bhagwat at another state-run auditorium, Mahajati Sadan in central Kolkata, on October 3 was allegedly cancelled.

The programme, organised by Sister Nivedita Mission Trust on her role in the country’s nationalist movement, was also to be attended by West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi.

Rantidev Sengupta, general secretary of the Sister Nivedita 150th Birth Anniversary Celebrations Committee, said that the auditorium authorities informed them about the cancellation on August 31, although all formalities had been completed by July.

BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha said, “Earlier, when Mohan Bhagwat was supposed to address a programme at Brigade Parade ground, the state government tried to stop it. It was held only after a court order.”

“Why is the state government so afraid of RSS-BJP? It is a programme related to Sister Nivedita and in that too they are trying to find politics. This is nothing but undeclared Emergency. This is nothing but vendetta politics,” he alleged.

Jyotipriyo Mullick, state food and supplies minister and chairman of the renovation committee of Mahajati Sadan, booked by the trust for Mr Bhagwat’s event, said, “The allegations are baseless. All scheduled programmes from September 26 to October 6 have been cancelled due to renovation work.”

“The decision was taken a few days ago and all the organisations concerned which had booked the hall have been informed about the decision,” the minister said.