Cops halt BJP's Parivartan Yatra in Bengal's Murshidabad for 'route breach'

The BJP's 'Parivartan Yatra' wason Monday temporarily stopped from moving ahead in WestBengal's Murshidabad district as ''members of the saffron camp,despite request, took a route that had a few sensitivepockets'', a senior police officer said.

District BJP leader Gourishankar Ghosh, however,claimed that the party had intimated the administration aboutthe route being taken for the yatra well in advance, and ''noobjection was raised'' back then.

The saffron camp, following negotiations with thepolice, agreed to take an alternative route, as it ''wanted tosteer clear of any untoward incident''.

The 'Parivartan Yatra' on a rath was flagged off byBJP national president J P Nadda from Nabadwip in Nadiadistrict on February 6, as part of the saffron party'soutreach programme ahead of the assembly polls. It travelledthrough Nakasipara before entering Murshidabad on February 7.

''The rath, which was on its way to Bahrampur, was toldto avoid a particular route via Hariharpur, as it has a fewsensitive pockets. The vehicle was stopped as it was passingby Bharat Sevashram Sangha at Beldanga,'' the officer said.

Ghosh, on his part, said no such request was made tohim or the other members of his party by the administration.

Echoing him, state BJP leader Kalyan Choubey said, ''Weheld discussions with the police before charting the yatraroute. However, we were taken by surprise when the policestopped us at Beldanga. We sat on the street for three hours.'' ''Later, as suggested by the police, we decided to takean alternative route via National Highway 34 bypass, as wewanted to steer clear of any untoward situation,'' he added.

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