Kolkata: Soon after the cancellation of an auditorium booking for an event featuring RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat as one of the speakers, the West Bengal government has now said no to BJP President Amit Shah’s event at Netaji Indoor Stadium.
The Netaji Indoor Stadium is governed by the state sports department. Few days ago, the department informed the state BJP unit that it is not possible for them to rent the stadium as it was booked for the entire month, except during the Durga Puja days between September 26 and 29.
Speaking to News18, state BJP Secretary, Sayantan Basu said, “Our party president will be in Kolkata between September 11 and 13 and we wanted to book the stadium for an event. On August 28, we had completed all formalities. Two days later, we were told that the stadium is booked for the entire month of September.”
He added, “They intentionally denied us a booking because the TMC government doesn’t want Amit Ji to address any event in Kolkata. The government is scared of us. We are trying to book some other venue for the event.”
Shah is scheduled to attend a series of events to strengthen the party base here and take stock of its current position.
TMC Secretary General, Partha Chatterjee rubbished the allegations and said, “There are instances when we have had to reschedule the Chief Minister’s programme, because the Netaji Indoor Stadium was unavailable.”
Few days ago, RSS functionaries had cried foul and alleged that authorities at Mahajati Sadan – another auditorium run by the West Bengal government – had denied permission to hold an event on October 3 by Sister Nivedita Mission Trust, where the main speaker was Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief, Mohan Bhagwat.
Rantideb Sengupta, general secretary of Sister Nivedita Mission Trust had said on Tuesday, “Initially they agreed to rent the auditorium and we even paid the booking amount. But later on they asked us to bring a no-objection certificate from the Kolkata Police. We told them that we will submit the required certificate within two days, but last Thursday they told me that there are some pending renovation work and PWD has asked them not to accept any further bookings.”
However, Mahajati Sadan secretary, Nurul Huda rubbished all allegations. He said, “There is some miscommunication. They are not the only one whose booking has been cancelled. There are other organizations who wanted to book the auditorium in October, but we refused citing renovation work.”
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