Police denies permission for RSS rally in Kolkata

KOLKATA: The RSS on Thursday alleged that Mamata Banerjee's government was not allowing it to hold Hindu Sammelan here on January 14, which was supposed to be addressed by its chief Mohan Bhagawat.

"We informed Kolkata Police that we will be holding our Sammelan on January 14. We also sought their permission for holding the Sammelan either at the Brigade Parade Grounds or at Bhukailash in the Kidderpore area. But the police on Thursday made it clear that we would not be able to use Brigade Parade Grounds on January 14 for our rally. The police told us that the Grounds would be used for providing shelters to the Gangasagar pilgrims and we would not get the same on January 14. Similarly, the police also denied us to use the ground at Bhukailash in the Kidderpore area saying that the venue is too small to accommodate more than 400 people," RSS leader Jisnu Basu told ET on Thursday.

Basu said that they would move Kolkata High Court on Friday against the denial by the city police to hold their rally on January 14.


Last month, the RSS had announced that they would be holding the Sammelan here on January 14 which will be addressed by their chief Mohan Bhagawat. It is learnt that Bhagawat had earlier held rallies here, but the RSS had never dared to organise their rally at the Brigade Parade Grounds, which is the largest venue in the city for organising any political rally.