HC grants Amit Shah permission to hold rally in Kolkata tomorrow

The Calcutta High Court has granted Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah permission to hold a rally in the city on Sunday.

Justice Debangshu Basak, who gave the permission, named two special officers to ensure that the BJP complies with all the rules.

The Police Commissioner has also been asked to depute an officer to assist them.

Earlier on Thursday, Kolkata Municipal Corporation had refused Amit Shah the permission to hold a rally in the city thereby deepening the feud between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the BJP.

The party had applied as early as July for permission to hold a public meeting outside Victoria Hall, where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee holds an annual rally every July for her party.

Earlier, the city police had said that Shah's meeting would inconvenience commuters since a major traffic intersection is located at the venue.

Differences between the TMC and the BJP have cropped up after recent developments in Saradha chit fund scam where a few TMC leaders were named and the party later alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi led NDA government is interfering in functioning of CBI against the regional party.