Kolkata, Dec 31 (IANS): Controversy erupted on Tuesday after the police denied permission to a scheduled meeting of Suvendu Adhikari, the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the West Bengal Assembly, at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district at the last moment.
The denial of the agreement came as the dais for the said meeting was raised at Block-II of Sandeskhali. The argument of the district police was that the state unit of BJP had not formally sought the police permission to conduct the meeting and also did not submit the necessary documents required for that purpose in time
According to the Superintendent of Basirhat Police District, Hossain Mehdi Rehman, although his office was informed about the meeting of the LoP, the necessary papers for that were not submitted in time.
“The papers were submitted only on Monday night. But it was too late by then. The leader of the opposition is entitled to ‘Z+’ security and hence we have to keep in mind the security aspects,” Rehman told media persons.
The president of BJP’s Basirhat organisational district, Tapas Ghosh, rubbished the claims made by Rehman. "We have got documents of the papers submitted to the police and received by the department. The people of Sandeshkhali are eager to listen to what the LoP has to say. The ruling party and the administrations do not want that,” Ghosh said.
Incidentally, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee addressed a meeting at Sandeshkhali, the first since the protest by local people there, especially women, flared up against the sexual harassment and illegal land grabbing by the now-suspended Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan and his associates.
At the meeting, the Chief Minister hinted at a “money game” influencing that movement.
“There was a ‘money game’ at Sandeshkhali. The people were misled. But lies do not persist for long. So I request all of you to remain united. Do not fall into the trap of mischievous people...,” the Chief Minister said on Monday at Sandeshkhali.
Soon after that, LoP Suvendu Adhikar claimed that he would reply to the allegations of the Chief Minister through his rally on Tuesday.