Bengal Denied Permission To Rahul Gandhi's Yatra To Humiliate Congress: BJP

The BJP on Friday took potshots at the Congress claiming the Mamata Banerjee government has decided to deny permission to Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in the state to "humiliate" Congress.

The BJP's jibe came after Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said his party was facing problems in getting permission to organise some public meetings in Bengal as part of the Yatra.

In a post on X, BJP co-incharge for Bengal and IT department chief Amit Malviya said, "Mamata Banerjee's decision to deny Rahul Gandhi's Yatra permission is like the last nail in the coffin of INDI Alliance."

"The decision is intended to humiliate the Congress... But it is interesting to see the Congress suffer from Stockholm syndrome and continue to plead Mamata Banerjee to join the Yatra for just five minutes," he added.

Mr Malviya claimed Ms Banerjee is "nervous" and doing all this in the hope that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) can contest all the Lok Sabha seats in Bengal to "remain relevant after results".

"The excuse that it has been done due to exams is a sham. There is no such compulsion because exams start on February 2 and the Yatra was to enter the Siliguri region on January 28," he said.

Ms Banerjee on Wednesday announced her party will fight the Lok Sabha polls "alone" in the state, a remark that rattled the Congress and sent political ripples in the INDIA bloc.

The seat-sharing proposals between Congress and the TMC went haywire after the latter accused the Congress of making unjustified demands without acknowledging the ground reality.

Speaking to reporters in Siliguri on Friday, Mr Chowdhury said the schedule of Rahul Gandhi's yatra was submitted to the administration in the state much in advance.

"In some places, we are facing roadblocks as we are not getting permission to organise public meetings, citing exams. The Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra faced problems in the northeast, including in Assam, and now it is facing problems in TMC-ruled Bengal as well," Adhir Chowdhury, the leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, said.

"We were denied permission to hold a public meeting in Siliguri. We expected better cooperation from the state government. Anyway, the route and the itinerary of the Yatra remain the same except for a few changes," he added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)