Kolkata Police grants permission for Amit Shah rally

After days of "dilly-dallying" over granting permission for Union Home Minister Amit Shah's

proposed rally here on March 1, the Kolkata Police has finally accorded it, a senior BJP leader said on Tuesday.

The saffron party had on February 20 submitted a letter to the Kolkata Police seeking permission for the rally,

he said. "We have got the permission on Monday. Now things will

move as per schedule. It will be a mega event," BJP state general secretary Rathindra Bose said.

Shah is scheduled to address the rally at Shaheed Minar Ground where state BJP leaders will felicitate him for

the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the Parliament, party sources said.

This will be Shah's second visit to West Bengal after assuming the office of the Union home minister.

He had addressed a seminar on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 at Netaji Indoor Stadium on October 1

last year. Earlier last week, West Bengal BJP president Dilip

Ghosh had accused the Kolkata Police and the district administration of dilly-dallying over granting the permission

by giving "lame excuses". "The police is delaying the issue by citing board

exams and said we will not be able to use loudspeakers during our programme," Ghosh had said.

The Madhyamik examinations began on February 18 and will end on February 27. The class 12 examinations will be

conducted from March 12 to March 27. The blaring of loudspeakers has been restricted for

the examinations. The TMC government had earlier denied police

permission for several rallies of Amit Shah when he was the BJP president.