The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the West Bengal government to respond to a petition filed by the BJP seeking permission to take out rath yatra in the State.
The court passed the order on a petition filed against a Calcutta High Court Division Bench decision to deny the party to hold a yatra across West Bengal to make voters aware of their rights in a democracy.
The BJP said the ‘Ganatantra Bachao Yatra’ is proposed to cover 42 Lok Sabha seats of West Bengal and expects a galaxy of party leaders to take part. The yatra has been re-scheduled thrice.
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The court scheduled the next hearing on January 15.
The BJP petition unleashes a series of adverse political comments about the Mamata Banerjee government, alleging that the government machinery is used to crush the Opposition voice in the State. It said the “government and executive” are working as “political agents” of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC). It claimed that the BJP is facing a political vendetta in West Bengal.
“The activity proposed to be organised by the petitioner [West Bengal BJP] is to create awareness amongst citizens about their choice and make them more informed as citizens,” the appeal filed by senior advocate E.C. Agrawala said.
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It claimed that the BJP has “emerged as the main Opposition party in West Bengal.”
“The rise of the BJP and dissatisfaction of people against the present State government can be seen from recent elections in West Bengal,” the BJP claimed in the petition.
It accused the AITC of trying “to snatch the voting rights of the people by threatening them and demolishing the democratic rights of the people which could be seen by the fact that 34% of seats in the panchayat elections went uncontested.”
The BJP claimed that the yatra was meant to “protest against lawlessness, fear to contest elections and post-poll violence, which are very much prevalent in West Bengal.”