Calcutta HC permits Suvendu Adhikari's 'Sanatani' rally at Contai tomorrow

Kolkata, April 29 (IANS) The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday permitted Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, to hold a rally of "Sanatani" Hindus in East Midnapore district on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya.

Significantly, on this day, the inauguration of the Lord Jagannath Temple at Digha in the same district is scheduled to take place in the presence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

After being denied permission to hold that rally by the East Midnapore district police, Adhikari approached the single-judge bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh on April 21.

Finally, after a prolonged hearing on the matter for the last couple of days, Justice Ghosh's bench permitted Adhikari to participate in the rally. However, Justice Ghosh ordered that the rally should not have more than 3,000 participants.

Although Adhikari is not a direct organiser of the said rally at Contai, he will be the principal speaker on the occasion.

The state government and the district police were against permitting the rally, citing that it would coincide with a huge gathering on the occasion of the inauguration of the Lord Jagannath temple at Digha, which has been modelled after the iconic Shree Jagannath Temple at Puri in Odisha.

The police argued that it would be impossible for the district police to arrange security for the parallel events.

However, Adhikari's counsel argued that since Contai is quite distant from Digha, it won't have any impact.

Earlier, controversy erupted after Adhikari challenged the Chief Minister's claims that the Lord Jagannath temple in Digha has been modelled after the iconic Puri Temple.

Adhikari called the Chief Minister to clarify why the proposed temple had been named Jagannath Dham Cultural Centre and not Shree Jagannath Temple.

"The Chief Minister should immediately give instructions so that the name is changed from 'Jagannath Dham Cultural Centre' to 'Shree Jagannath Temple' in all the related state government documents.

"The name change should also be made in the tenders and documents of WBHIDCO, responsible for the construction of the proposed temple at Digha, the cost of which is borne from the state government’s exchequer," the LoP claimed.

--IANS

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