Aware that her own electoral applecart could soon go up in flames, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has warned the Sangh Parivar against playing with fire that she once ignited through her policy of appeasing the minorities.
Mamata has warned the RSS and Vishwa Hindu Parishad against taking out processions with arms. “Some people of RSS, Bajrang Dal and VHP brand are planning to disrupt peace and damage the culture of Bengal. But this will not be allowed here. let me be very frank that any such attempt will be dealt with very strongly,” Mamata said with the State police chief Surajit Karpurakayastha nodding in acquiescence.
She said “any rally with arms will not be permitted,” even as an RSS leadership said they did not have such plans. “We only spoke of “Shastra Pujan (arms worship) on Vijaya Dashami and not arms rally,” a functionary said.
The Chief Minister is known to have given a “free hand” to the police brass to “control unruly elements” on the said day, sources said.
the Mamata Government had come under severe criticism from the State intelligentsia for failing to control armed processions taken out on the occasion of Ram Navami by the saffron groups in the month of April.
Experts however said the taken by the Chief Minister hard stance against the saffron brigade would help her further consolidate the minority vote base that accounted for a good 28 percent in the State and allow a steady division in the Opposition left-Congress vote bank that constituted about 39 percent — with the split-up votes migrating BJP wards.
“The pretentious saber-rattling by the two sides is nothing but a drama, played for the gallery to divide the electoral class of Bengal and relegate the major issues like poverty, unemployment, exploitation, inflation, subversion of labour laws,” State left legislature Party leader Sujan Chakrabarty said wondering why the Trinamool was not countering the Narendra Modi Government which was “dealing a body blow to the labour laws.”
Mamata’s tough-talking on arm’s rally apart her Government tended to go on the defensive on the issue of immersion of Durga Idols on which the Chief Minister had put a time-bar to make way for Muharram rallyists. She had banned immersion after 6 pm on Dashami Day.
With the Calcutta High Court having asked the State Government to make its points clear on the issue on Monday when a relevant petition is scheduled to be heard the administration is planning to allow a 4-5 hour’s concession to the Immersion processions, sources said.
The Government which earlier said that it would not allow immersion beyond 6 pm till the morning of October 2 --- considering Muharram rallies would be organized on October 1 --- was now planning to tell the Court that they were prepared to let the immersions be done till mid-night.
Banerjee had earlier said that there would be no immersion after 6 pm on Dashami to make way for the Muharram processions adding the Idol immersions would resume on October 2 till 4th of the same months.
However S Roychowdhury the counsel for the petitioner said that immersion should be allowed till 1.36 am on October 1 as that was timegiven in the “Vishuddha Siddhanta” almanac.