Mamata fears BJP will dig its heels in Bengal by holding Rath Yatras: Amit Shah

Hours after the Calcutta High Court on Friday accepted Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) plea for organising Rath Yatras in Cooch Behar and other regions of West Bengal, party president Amit Shah tore into the Trinamool Congress and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for creating obstructions for the party.

The court on Thursday had refused to give permission to the BJP to hold the Yatra. The judicature had upheld the concerns cited by the West Bengal government that the programme may stoke communal tensions and cause violence in the region.

Shah said at a press conference here today, "We (BJP) will do everything legally and we will conduct three rallies. The rallies have not been cancelled but postponed. Yatra, as scheduled, will go to every part of West Bengal. I will go to West Bengal tomorrow."

Venting anger over the state government, Shah alleged complete lawlessness in the state and since the TMC is afraid of the BJP it is not allowing the Yatra. "Mamata Banerjee is scared that if BJP takes out the three rallies in the state of West Bengal and assemble in Kolkata then the foundation of a complete change will be laid down. So she attempted to stop all these yatras," Shah stressed.

Slamming the state government and the Chief Minister further, he accused that there has been an attempt to suppress democratic process in the region and the trend being followed Mamata Banerjee is non-democratic in nature.

"West Bengal is a hotbed of all the illegal activities. The BJP activists are not afraid of Mamata Banerjee's suppression. We are committed to bring good governance inside Bengal," he said.

The BJP had planned to hold three "Rath-Yatras" beginning with Cooch Behar district today, Kakdwip in the South 24 Parganas district on December 9 and Tarapith temple in Birbhum district on December 14. The Yatra was to be flagged off by party president Amit Shah from Cooch Behar.