'BJP halted Saraswati Puja at Amit Shah’s Barrackpore rally venue', alleges TMC

Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Saturday alleged that Saraswati Puja was stopped at a ground in Barrackpore where Union Home minister Amit Shah held a rally the same day.

The ruling party said the BJP had earlier accused the TMC government of not allowing Saraswati Puja, and claimed it was ironic that the Puja was allegedly stopped at the very ground where Shah addressed a rally, a venue where the festival was previously held.

Speaking at a Press conference, Trinamool Congress leaders Bratya Basu and Partha Bhowmick said: “We want to say that the field where Amit Shah held the rally is the same ground where Saraswati Puja, fairs, and sports events have been stopped. He is allowed to hold a rally there, but no other party is granted permission to organise any event.”

They claimed that the Ministry of Home Affairs rejected the proposal of organising Saraswati Puja on that ground. Trinamool leaders also asserted that the party will hold a mass sit-in protest at the same venue on February 10, involving local residents.

“We will see whether permission is granted to us or not,” the leaders said.

“Earlier, when Shah came to Bengal, he alleged that Mamata Banerjee does not allow Saraswati Puja in the state. However, anyone living in Bengal knows that Saraswati Puja is celebrated in every school, club, and household. Not just Saraswati Puja, all festivals have been stopped at that venue, yet Shah’s political meeting is being allowed to take place,” the leaders alleged.

The Trinamool leaders also attacked Shah and BJP for “hasty” and “unplanned” implementation of SIR.

“Whatever is happening in Bengal in the name of SIR is not happening in any other state. You will not find such illogical discrepancy lists under the guise of voter roll revision elsewhere. This is not revision; it is harassment of the people of Bengal. To date, more than 140 people have died due to SIR,” Bhowmick and Basu said.