Kolkata: The West Bengal government-head by chief minister Mamata Banerjee has denied Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) the permission to hold rath yatra campaign in the state, BJP state President Dilip Ghosh said on Saturday. Speaking to news agency ANI, Ghosh said that however, the state government has allowed the saffron party to hold sabha (meeting) in its place. “West Bengal government has denied BJP the permission to hold rath yatra. BJP can hold sabha (meeting) in its place for which fresh permission needs to be sought by BJP,” he said.

Later justifying its decision, West Bengal government argued that large convoy of the yatra would disturb the traffic. “Large convoy of the yatra (BJP's Rath Yatra) would create a chaotic situation & grave disruption of traffic. During the period cited, major festivals & events are scheduled, requiring a heavy deployment of the resources of the government including Police Force,” the state government said.

During the period cited, major festivals and events are scheduled, requiring a heavy deployment of the resources of the government including police force, the government added. The state government officers met a BJP delegation at the Kolkata Police headquarters to seek permission on Thursday evening as per the directions of the Calcutta High Court.

“We had met government officials yesterday. Now we will wait and watch till tomorrow as the state government officials have told us they will inform us on Saturday. Let's see what happens, then we will decide our next course of action," Ghosh informed earlier.

The BJP, earlier this week, announced that it will stick to its rath yatra programme in West Bengal but will launch it only after hearing from the state government on the new dates. Reportedly, BJP held a meeting with Chief Secretary Malay Dey, Home Secretary Atri Bhattacharya and state Director General of Police Virendra during the day as directed by the Calcutta High Court.

The rath yatra, touted as a "save democracy" programme and a "game changer" by the BJP, was scheduled to start on December 7 from Cooch Behar but could not as the state government denied permission on grounds that it might cause communal tension. The campaign is supposed to cover all the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state.