After denial of permission for Amit Shah rally, BJP moves Calcutta HC

After days of impasse on whether BJP president Amit Shah’s rally will be allowed to take place in Kolkata, the city corporation on Thursday refused permission. The civic body cited ‘deficiency’ in BJP’s application for the rally. Following the order, the West Bengal unit of BJP has now moved the Calcutta High Court and the court will hear the matter at 2 pm, Zee News reported. Speaking to NDTV, BJP West Bengal chief Rahul Sinha remarked in jest that the party should enlist themselves in the Guinness Book of World Records. “This must be a record in India…perhaps it can be entered in the Guinness book…we have gone to court three times to seek this venue," BJP state unit chief Rahul Sinha told NDTV. [caption id=“attachment_1826247” align=“alignleft” width=“380” class=” “]  BJP president Amit Shah. Reuters[/caption] The political rally, however, has faced opposition from the Kolkata police as well. Police officials, according to this Zee News report, are of the opinion that the rally could affect daily commuters with major traffic snarls as it will pass the Victoria memorial – an arterial road in Kolkata. The municipal corporation on the other hand cited technical shortcomings in the BJP plan, the news channel reports. On Thursday, denied permission to hold the rally at Victoria House, where the ruling Trinamool Congress usually organises its annual martyrs’ day rally, the BJP state unit had moved the bench of Justice Debangshu Basak alleging discrimination by the city police. Hearing the petition, Justice Basak had told the party to seek clearance from the fire department and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, _IANS_ reported. The court also asked both the agencies to inform the BJP whether it has been granted permission or not with proper reasons on 27 November. The court had earlier asked Kolkata Police Commissioner Surajit Kar Purkayastha to hold a meeting with BJP representatives but it failed to break the deadlock with police refusing to relent. Meanwhile, Sinha declared that the BJP will go ahead with the schedule rally and will hold the police responsible in case of any untoward incident. “The Trinamool Congress is apprehensive of the rise of the BJP in Bengal and trying to prevent our meeting with the help of police. The High Court did not ask us to change the venue but only directed to follow a few guidelines. “We will go ahead with the meeting and the thousands of supporters will gather at the Victoria House and if something happens, the onus will be on the police which has been acting on the whims of the Trinamool,” Sinha told _IANS_. With inputs from IANS