Rath Yatra: BJP convenes emergency meeting after High Court denies permission

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday convened an emergency meeting to discuss the future course of action after Calcutta High Court refused permission for the party's Rath Yatra programme. Earlier, BJP decided to put on hold Amit Shah's proposed rally and the Rath Yatra, saying it will wait for the final order from the divisional bench of the high court scheduled today.

The meeting was attended by BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, along with other senior party leaders such as Arvind Menon, Shiv Prakash, Dilip Ghosh and Mukul Roy.

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"If the BJP fails to conduct the proposed Rath Yatra, it would send a wrong message to the rank and file of the party,” news agency PTI quoted party leaders as saying.

"We are waiting for the court's verdict. We have also called a meeting of party workers at 2 pm," said a senior state BJP leader.

"Whenever we have wanted to take out a rally or conduct a political programme, the state government has tried to stop it either by denying us permission or tried to create procedural hurdles," state president Dilip Ghosh alleged.

On Thursday, the Calcutta High Court denied permission to BJP president Amit Shah for 'rath yatra' from West Bengal's Cooch Behar anticipating "communal tension" across the state.

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The BJP was scheduled to take out three rallies in West Bengal - one from Cooch Behar in the north, another from Kakdwip in the South 24 Parganas district on December 9 and the last one from the Tarapith temple in Birbhum district on December 14.

The 'rath yatra' was a part of the BJP's election campaign in 42 Lok Sabha constituencies across West Bengal, where the party aims to bag over 22 seats in the general elections next year. The BJP currently has two Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal - Asansol and Darjeeling.