The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday was forced to change the route of its rath yatra, a grand pre-election roadshow christened Parivartan Yatra (journey for change), in Bengal’s Murshidabad district when the police raised objection to the deviation made in the route approved by the administration the night before.
BJP workers held agitation for almost two hours in Murshidabad’s Beldanga area on Monday morning soon after the police stopped the roadshow which was flagged off near an ashram of the Bharat Sevashram Sangh, a Bengal-based Hindu social welfare organization.
The party subsequently agreed to follow the route marked by the police and the roadshow ended for the day at Berhampore town, the district’s administrative headquarter.
The BJP announced that it will continue with the roadshow on Tuesday although chief minister Mamata Banerjee is scheduled to address an election rally at the Berhampore stadium grounds. The route will be decided on Tuesday morning.
The BJP wanted Monday’s roadshow to pass through Beldanga, Nowda and Hariharpara. Additional superintendent of police Bimal Pal rushed to Beldanga with a huge force and stopped it, saying the administration had given permission for the vehicles to follow NH-34 and not the district roads passing through Beldanga, Nowda and Hariharpara.
“There could be communal tension if the roadshow passed through these regions as there is a high concentration of Muslims. The administration did not want any trouble,” a senior district police officer said on condition of anonymity.
{{/usCountry}}“There could be communal tension if the roadshow passed through these regions as there is a high concentration of Muslims. The administration did not want any trouble,” a senior district police officer said on condition of anonymity.
{{/usCountry}}Bengal’s Muslim population stood at 27.01 % during the 2011 census and is projected to have increased to around 30 % now. The highest Muslim population is in Murshidabad (66.28%).
President of the BJP’s Murshidabad south organizational district, Gourishankar Ghosh, said, “We informed the administration about the route chosen for the yatra well in advance. No one objected at that time. It is not our intention to create communal tension. We followed the route selected by the police.”
TMC’s district unit president Abu Taher Khan said, “The BJP has no organizational strength in this district. It is trying to create tension by holding these roadshows. I have asked our workers not to fall for any provocation.”
The roadshow was flagged off by BJP national president J P Nadda at Nabadwip in Nadia district on February 6. It is part of the BJP’s outreach programme ahead of the assembly polls to be held in April-May. It entered Murshidabad on Sunday. Four more roadshows will be held in the state this month. One of these will be attended by Union home minister Amit Shah.