Kolkata, February 27 – A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court on Friday granted conditional permission to the BJP's proposed two-day "Parivartan Yatra" on March 1 and March 2.
The yatra will begin from nine different locations in West Bengal on these two days, in the run-up to the crucial state assembly elections, which are scheduled later this year.
After being denied police permission for the yatra, the West Bengal unit of the BJP approached the single-judge bench of Justice Suvra Ghosh at the Calcutta High Court.
The matter came up for hearing on Friday, and after the hearing, Justice Ghosh finally gave conditional approval for the program.
According to her, each of the nine rallies starting from nine locations should not have a gathering of 1,000 participants. The court also directed the state police to ensure that there would be no law and order problems during the rallies.
Justice Ghosh also fixed the timing of the rallies between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Sources within the state BJP said that the rallies from nine locations would be completed in phases on March 1 and March 2, but there would be no rallies on March 3 and March 4.
"There will be no rallies on March 3 and March 4, because of the 'Dol Yatra' festival on March 3 and the 'Holi' festival on March 4. The rallies will start again on March 5 and will be completed after covering all the 294 assembly constituencies in West Bengal," said a state committee member of the BJP.
Several prominent central leaders of the BJP, including members of the Union Cabinet, are scheduled to participate in the proposed yatra.
These include Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh, BJP National President Nitin Nabin, Union Minister J.P. Nadda, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, Union Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, former Union Minister Smriti Irani, and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, among others.
At the conclusion of the yatra program, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address a major public rally at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata. However, the exact date of the Prime Minister's rally in March has not yet been finalized.
