BJP leader alleges he was not allowed to enter Kolkata

Delhi BJP leader Tajinder Bagga today alleged he was detained at the Kolkata airport and sent back from there by the police which, he said, told him that he did not have permission to enter the city.
When contacted, an officer of the NSCBI Airport police station said he was not aware of any such development.
Bagga, who is the spokesperson of the BJP's Delhi unit, had gone to Kolkata to attend Durga idol immersions.
"I was not even allowed to go out of the airport to meet my party workers. The police officials told me that they have orders from the top to arrest me if I try to enter Kolkata. Police said I don't have the permission," Bagga told PTI here.

He accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of ordering the police to stop him from entering Kolkata.
He said he was "detained for three hours" at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) Airport soon after he embarked from the flight at 11.40 in the morning.

After being stopped there, he took a flight back to Delhi at 2.40 pm, he said.
The BJP leader was invited by Paddapukur Puja Balak Sangha in Kolkata as a chief guest to lead the immersion procession on Sunday evening.
Earlier, Bagga had announced his decision to go to Kolkata in a tweet: "This dashami I will be in Bengal and let me see who can stop me from Visarjan (Durga idol immersion)".

Bagga's plans had invited opposition from some quarters, with political leaders such as Sharmishtha Mukherjee of the Congress alleging that "people from outside Bengal are coming to create tension".
The Mamata Banerjee government had announced a ban on Durga idol immersion on October 1 as it was coinciding with Muharram. The ban was later lifted by the Calcutta High Court.