RSS chief’s Bengal visit on Oct 3: Mohan Bhagwat event in central govt-run hall

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat (File Photo)

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat will address a meeting in Science City on the outskirts of Kolkata on October 3 after its organisers were denied permission to hold it in the state-run Mahajati Sadan. Authorities in Mahajati Sadan, which can accommodate around 1,400 people, said the venue would be repaired between September 26 and October 6.
The Science City auditorium, where the meeting would be held, can seat around 2,200 people. Science City is under the Union Ministry of Culture’s National Council of Science Museums. This is not the first time that BJP and RSS leaders have found it difficult to hold meetings in venues of their choice in Kolkata.

The BJP was denied permission for a meeting by party national chief Amit Shah at the Netaji Indoor Stadium earlier this month. The organiser for the event where Bhagwat and Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi are to be invited is the Sister Nivedita Mission Trust.

The BJP and the RSS have accused the Mamata Banerjee government of “autocratic” and “undemocratic” rule.
Netaji Indoor Stadium authorities, however, had cited that the venue was unavailable till Durga Puja.
Jishnu Basu, the RSS karyavaha for south Bengal, said: “The hall has been booked and this (Science City) in fact is better than the earlier venue. He (Bhagwat) will arrive in Kolkata on October 3 and speak at the venue.”

A government official said: “There was some concern about Bhagwat’s presence in Bengal between Septem-
ber 30 and October 1… when Bijoya Dashami and Muharram fall…. We have received information that certain Hindu
outfits have planned process-ions with arms on Dashami.” Sources in the RSS said booking the Science City auditorium also saw its share of problems.Though the alternative venue was suggested almost immediately after the news of Mahajati Sadan cancellation came in, initially, “the organisation had booked the smaller auditorium” in Science City.

Science City has two auditoriums — a mini auditorium with a capacity of 392 and a grand theatre.
“It was decided that the smaller venue wouldn’t be in keeping with the stature of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and would serve to underline the kind of destructive, anti-democratic politics that the Trinamool Congress is playing,” a source said.

Later, the grand theatre at Science City was booked.