After Amit Shah's Threat to Get Arrested, Kolkata Police Issues Clarification: 'Permission Already Granted For August 11 Rally'

Kolkata, Aug 1: Shortly after BJP president Amit Shah threatened to get himself arrested in Kolkata on being denied to address the party workers, the city police issued a clarification claiming that the permission has already been granted.

A statement issued by the Kolkata Police said that the reports claiming denial of permission for Shah's August 11 rally are based on social media rumours. The police said such speculation is unwarranted as the permission was already granted when the request was issued by the BJP West Bengal unit.

"Some unwarranted speculation in social media about denial of permission to a political party on 11 August has come to our notice. It is to clarify that on request, permission for meeting has already been granted," said the statement issued by the Kolkata Police on Twitter.

Earlier in the day, Shah issued a statement saying he would be visiting Kolkata even if he is denied permission. "West Bengal government can arrest me if they want, but I will address the rally," he said.

This comes a day after Shah exchanged heated words with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) prepared for Assam.

On the exclusion of 40 lakh people from the final draft, Banerjee said this would lead to a "bloodbath, civil war". Reverting to her dissent, Shah said the BJP government will compromise at no cost to safeguard the rights of the Assamese. "For some parties, especially the Trinamool, the rights of the indigenous population and the threat to national security are non-issues. But the BJP has not-tolerance for it," he added.

While Banerjee has emerged at the forefront to oppose the draft NRC for Assam, the Bengal unit of BJP has vowed to undertake a similar exercise in the state if voted to power in 2021.

"We promise to restore the lost glory of our state. If we get elected in the next assembly elections, the Bangladeshi infiltrators would be similarly identified and deported," said BJP state president Dilip Ghosh. "The number of infiltrators in our state probably runs into crores," he added.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 01, 2018 05:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).