Kolkata, March 26 BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari participated in a Ram Navami procession in Bhabanipur, a constituency in south Kolkata where the leader of the opposition in the West Bengal assembly is set to challenge incumbent MLA and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee in the upcoming elections.
Tight security arrangements have been made across the state, with a particular focus on the Howrah and Hooghly districts, which witnessed unrest in previous years during this occasion.
Ram Navami processions by Anjani Putra Sena and Vishwa Hindu Parishad are scheduled for the day in Howrah city.
The Calcutta High Court has allowed these two processions with certain restrictions and with instructions to the police to make necessary security arrangements, after the organizers moved the court, claiming that the local police had not granted permission.
The procession in Bhabanipur, which was attended by Adhikari, traversed through the entire Assembly segment before culminating at Hazra crossing, about a kilometre from Chief Minister Banerjee's residence.
The BJP has fielded Adhikari from Bhabanipur, where Mamata Banerjee is aiming to retain the seat she won in a by-election after she was defeated by Adhikari at Nandigram in the 2021 assembly elections.
Ram Navami processions were also taken out in other parts of the state, including in Islampur town in Uttar Dinajpur district and Siuri in Birbhum district.