Rath Yatra stalled: BJP will not complain against constant negative publicity that Mamata is giving

Kolkata, Dec 7: The BJP's much anticipated 'Rath Yatra' programme in West Bengal which was supposed to begin on Friday, December 7, got stalled after the Calcutta High Court expressed its reservation over holding such a sensitive political programme within a short notice. The court feared untoward consequences that could be difficult for the state administration to manage and did not want to take any chance.

BJP president Amit Shah, who was supposed to inaugurate the programme that would continue till January 16, did not go to Bengal and said at the party headquarters in New Delhi that even if the Yatra did not take place now, it will certainly happen in the near future. The saffron camp had planned to conduct three Rath Yatras starting from Cooch Behar in North Bengal where the BJP has witnessed a steady rise in its vote share but eventually could not organise it on time. Shah was, however, scheduled to reach Bengal on Saturday, December 8, to meet with local leaders.

TMC's attacking game will not displease BJP

The BJP will be a tad dejected about its Rath Yatra getting cancelled on Thursday but it will be happy the way the Mamata Banerjee administration is responding to its political rise in the state. The BJP has lacked a strong leadership in Bengal to transform the mood against the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) into seats in the Parliament or Assembly but whatever is its shortcoming, Chief Minister Banerjee and her team are certainly making up for it.

Repeated targeting of Bengal BJP president

Recently, the convoy of Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghose came under attack in Cooch Behar and it is just the latest of the several attacks that have taken place over him. In Birbhum district, the TMC leaders distributed several thousands of 'khol' and 'khanjani' - types of instruments played by Hindu priests and followers - as a measure to counter the BJP's Hindutva politics. In the past, the ruling party was also seen propagating the worship of Lord Hanuman in the state to show that it is not too far behind its saffron opponent when it comes to appeasing the majority sentiments. Besides, CM Banerjee is using almost every platform to launch scathing attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party.

Now, these instances will not make the BJP unhappy even though the party and its cadres have to spend days in uncertainty in the state. >From being a fringe player in Bengal politics, the BJP has made some significant progress in the state's politics and one of the reasons has been the constant negative publicity that Banerjee and her party has provided it.

Banerjee should remember that in the later years of the former Left rule in Bengal, the Marxists did not try to disperse her protests and agitations physically, something they had done earlier only to dig up their own grave in the long run. The current ruling party is doing something similar and the repeated attacks on an important Opposition party leader, even if his party has negligible seats in the state Assembly, could lead to unsavoury consequences for today's leaders.