WB BJP to wait till Saturday for state govt permission for 'rath yatra'

The West Bengal BJP will "wait and watch" till Saturday for permission from the state government for the party's rath yatra campiagn in the state, top leaders of the saffron party said Friday.

A division bench of the Calcutta High Court had directed the state chief secretary, home secretary and the director general of police to hold a meeting with three representatives of the BJP by December 12 and take a decision on the rally by December 14.

"We had met government officials yesterday. Now we will wait and watch till tomorrow as the state government officials have told us they will inform us on Saturday. Let's see what happens, then we will decide our next course of action," Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh said.

"Our schedule is already in place and as soon as the government grants us permission we will announce the new dates," he said.

The BJP Thursday said it will stick to its 'rath yatra' programme in West Bengal but will launch it only after hearing from the state government on the new dates.

The party held a meeting with Chief Secretary Malay Dey, Home Secretary Atri Bhattacharya and state Director General of Police Virendra during the day as directed by the Calcutta High Court.

After the meeting at the Lalbazar police headquarters here, Ghosh had said, "We informed the state government that we want to organise our programme the way it was scheduled. Only the dates will be changed."