Posters asking BJP to leave Bengal at Amit Shah's rally venue

A day ahead of BJP president Amit Shah's visit to Kolkata, posters asking the "BJP to leave Bengal" were seen put up in and around his rally venue at Mayo Road, in the central part of the city.

The state BJP unit alleged that the placards with messages - "BJP, leave Bengal" and "anti-Bengal BJP go back" - were put up by Trinamool Congress (TMC) cadres, a charge denied by the ruling party.

"This shows that the TMC is afraid of our rally tomorrow. The days of TMC are numbered in Bengal. The people of the state are waiting for good governance of the BJP," West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh said.

Bengal is not TMC's "personal property", the party has no right to make such demands, said another senior BJP leader.

"The people of the state will decide in the coming days who will stay and who will leave," he added.

However, TMC secretary-general and Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee said his party had nothing to do with the "anti-BJP posters".

The route that Shah would take to reach the venue tomorrow, however, was seen dotted with cutouts of party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said the TMC had put up similar posters during Shah's visit to Purulia in June and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in West Midnapore last month.

The prime minister had even mocked by the TMC by saying that the ruling party in the state had put up the posters to welcome him, he said.

"They have done this (display of TMC hoardings) in the past too. May be it is their way of welcoming people to the state," Vijayvargiya said.

Chatterjee, on his part, said there was nothing wrong in putting up posters and placards of their party supremo.

"The TMC is the ruling party in the state and we have every right to put up posters and placards. We don't need to take permission for that," he said.