The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday had to alter plans for its Parivartan Yatra in Bengal’s Murshidabad district for the second consecutive day, this time in view of chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s election rally.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief on Tuesday started her tour of Murshidabad, Malda, North Dinajpur and East Burdwan, districts with a substantial Muslim population in the state.
Even as the BJP altered its roadshow plans in Murshidabad, party national president JP Nadda arrived in the state to flag off two rath yatras in Birbhum and Jhargram districts. The party will hold five road shows in the run-up to the assembly polls due in April-May.
On Tuesday morning, the police stopped the roadshow’s main vehicle in Berhampore soon after it rolled out of the Madhupur area, and only allowed it to pass on certain conditions.
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BJP leaders were told that the rath had to travel without motorcycles and other vehicles accompanying it. The remaining vehicles were to travel in small batches, maintaining distance from each other, so that traffic was not affected, said the police. District police officers did not talk to the media on the issue. The chief minister later addressed a rally at the Berhampore stadium grounds in the afternoon
{{/usCountry}}BJP leaders were told that the rath had to travel without motorcycles and other vehicles accompanying it. The remaining vehicles were to travel in small batches, maintaining distance from each other, so that traffic was not affected, said the police. District police officers did not talk to the media on the issue. The chief minister later addressed a rally at the Berhampore stadium grounds in the afternoon
{{/usCountry}}The roadshow was initially scheduled to reach Kapiler Math after passing through Kossimbazar. The BJP’s Murshidabad south zone unit president Gourishankar Ghosh said, “We had plans to go to Barwan and Kandi today but the administration requested us to change the route. So, we decided to organise a puja and a religious programme at Kapiler Math. The administration was initially not ready to allow us to go there with the rath. It is impossible to hold a puja without the main vehicle. The permission came after a lot of argument but we had to alter the route.”
The BJP leaders were also directed not to move the rath from Kapiler Math till 5.30pm on Tuesday.
On Monday, BJP workers held agitation for almost two hours in Murshidabad’s Beldanga area after the police stopped the roadshow. The party subsequently agreed to follow the route marked by the police and the roadshow ended at Berhampore town, the district’s administrative headquarter.
Bengal’s Muslim population stood at 27.01 % during the 2011 census and is projected to have increased to around 30 % now. At 66.28 %, it is the highest in the state in Murshidabad district.