Edgy In The East

As the BJP starts its eastern campaign, Mamata Banerjee is desperate to stop the saffron march

- Rabi Banerjee

EVEN AS FIVE state assemblies went to the polls in November-December, the BJP started its Lok Sabha campaign in West Bengal by announcing a 49-day rath yatra across the state. The West Bengal government denied permission for the yatra and, when challenged in the Calcutta High Court, filed a dossier in support of its argument that the yatra might cause communal tension.

The dossier contained intelligence reports of communal violence in Bengal in the last three years. It recalled that BJP leader L.K. Advani’s rath yatra in 1990 had led to violence when it reached Bengal and that 17 people were killed in the state after the demolition of the Babri mosque.

While a single bench found merit in the government’s argument, a division bench observed a day later, on December 7, that the rights of political parties could not be taken away by citing historical events. It directed the state government to sit with BJP leaders and chalk out how the yatra could go on peacefully.

BJP leaders all over India are expected to descend on Bengal soon after the case is disposed of. The party looks upon Bengal as the state from where hindutva politics began with the founding of the Jan Sangh by Syama Prasad Mookerjee. BJP president Amit Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made it clear that “no win would make the BJP happy unless it wins Bengal”.