26 January,2024 04:31 PM IST | Siliguri | mid-day online correspondent
File photo for representation. PTI
Congress on Friday claimed that the party's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra is not getting permission for holding public meetings at some places in West Bengal.
West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury while speaking to reporters in Siliguri, said the schedule of the Yatra was submitted to the administration in the state long back.
"In some places, we are facing roadblocks as we are not getting permission to organise public meetings, citing exams. The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra has faced problems in the Northeast, including Assam, and now it is facing problems in TMC-ruled West Bengal as well," he said.
"We were denied permission to hold a public meeting in Siliguri. We expected better cooperation from the state government. Anyways, the route and the itinerary of the Yatra remain the same except for a few changes," he added.
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Asserting that the Rahul Gandhi-led Yatra was a movement to safeguard Constitution, Chowdhury claimed that it had nothing to do with the Lok Sabha elections, newswire PTI reported.
Speaking of the issue on Thursday night, he had said that they thought they would get "relaxations" in some places in West Bengal for the public meetings but the administration "is saying that they can't give it".
The Yatra, which began in Manipur on January 14, entered West Bengal from Assam on Thursday, and took a two-day break. It will resume on January 28.
The ruling Trinamool Congress, however, claimed that the administration in West Bengal is free of political influences.
"Adhir Chowdhury is responsible for the INDIA alliance falling apart in West Bengal. Secondly, all opposition parties conduct programmes in the state, nobody faces any problems. The administration must have taken the decision as there are board examinations in schools," TMC MP Santanu Sen said.
Taking a dig, the BJP said that Congress was getting a taste of "authoritarianism" from its ally.
"Does the TMC own West Bengal that they will decide who will get permission to hold a rally? Now, the Congress, which complains against the BJP, is getting a taste of authoritarianism from its own ally TMC," BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said.
