File photo of VHP's Praveen Togadia
The West Bengal government has decided to prohibit Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Praveen Togadia from entering the state. The ban comes into effect today and Mr Togadia can be arrested if he violates it.
Mr Togadia was to hold rally at Raiganj in North Dinajpur district on April 5, in view of which the state banned his entry.
A statement from the state home ministry said his entry may lead to communal tension and disturbance of public tranquility.
"They apprehend that the entry of Dr Praveen Bhai Togadia, his holding closed-door or public meetings/rallies will lead to communal tension and this would cause disturbance of the public tranquility, the statement said.
Accordingly, prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC have been issued by Additional Chief Secretary Basudeb Banerjee, it added.
On 29 January, Mr Togadia had addressed a rally in Bengal's Birbhum district. After the rally, the VHP held a 'suddhikaran' ceremony where as many as 20 people -- Christians and Muslims -- were "reconverted" to Hinduism. An FIR was later filed against Mr Togadia for inflammatory speech.
Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, who was at a function in Kolkata, said the state government should not have banned Mr Togadia. "This is wrong. He (Mr Togadia) should have been allowed to come," he said.
Since February, Mr Togadia has been banned from entering Karnataka, Assam and Odisha.
In February, the Bengaluru police asked him not to enter the city, where he was to address a VHP meeting. The police described Bengaluru as a communally sensitive area, and said Mr Togadia's speeches could disturb communal harmony in the city.
Mr Togadia bypassed the order by recording his speech which was played at the meeting.