BJP turns its raths away from Bengal for now

KOLKATA: With the Calcutta High Court ruling putting the brakes on BJP's rath yatra, the saffron party has decided to turn its chariots away from West Bengal.

Two of the three 'raths' meant for the yatras are waiting near the borders of West Bengal, while another in its workshop near Delhi.

The rath meant for the Cooch Behar leg of the rath yatra has been sent back to Bihar's Kishanganj, while the one for the Gangasagar leg has been halted near Ghatsila in Jharkhand.

The 'rath' for the Tarapith leg of the yatra has not left its workshop in Uttar Pradesh's Noida.

The state administration has been told by the High Court to arrange a meeting featuring state Home Secretary, Chief Secretary and Director General of Police and three BJP representatives by December 12 and take a 'reasonable' decision for BJP's rath yatra by December 14 after working out the modalities between two parties — state and BJP.

However, many in Trinamool Congress view the grounding of the raths as a moral victory for the ruling party, as the court rested the power of deciding the yatra's conditions on the state administration.

But, the high court, for the first time, during its recent judgments, has asked the state government to sort out its issues with a 'particular political party' (read: BJP) so that the two do not have to run up to the court to solve matters that can be sorted out through a dialogue. The high court has been the battleground between BJP and the state government over the past two years over issues surrounding permission and legality of BJP's political programmes in the state.

With Lok Sabha elections round the corner, BJP hopes to consolidate its support base across the state through the rath yatra. The party is expected not to leave any stone unturned for rolling out the raths, even if it is in deference to some riders set by the Mamata government.

The saffron party has been on an upward curve in the state over the last two years, gradually extending its electoral footprint at the expense of the Congress and Left. It is now the second largest party in the state, in terms of its vote share in panchayat and Assembly and Lok Sabha by-elections over the past two years.

Political analysts believe that BJP has now become an anathema to the state government, which was fairly evident in some political statements by Trinamool leaders.

Also, the BJP has replaced the CPI(M) as the main rival of the Trinamool in terms of political violence, as clashes between cadres of the two parties have become more commonplace in the new political order of West Bengal.

The motorcade of state party president Dilip Ghosh was attacked at Mathabhanga in Cooch Behar district a day before the rath yatra was slated to commence and police and BJP workers clashed at Mainaguri the day it was supposed to commence on December 7.

The state government, in the court, had initially tried to prove its point of disallowing the rath yatra fearing it will cause political tensions, and, it even cited the Mainaguri clashes to rest its case. However, the court has rebuked the state government for not having the confidence or mechanism to keep law and order under control. It has also suggested ways to sort out its issues with BJP representatives by seeking negotiations on the number of days for the rath yatra and putting a cap on the number of attendees.

With all eyes are on the meeting between the state government and BJP representatives slated on December 12, the political atmosphere of the state is likely to heat up after the state government decision on the yatra on December 14.