Suvendu Adhikari claims his Tiranga rally was blocked, urges HM Amit Shah to take action

West Bengal Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari lashed out at the state police on Friday for obstructing a flag march that was organised as part of the 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign in his Assembly constituency Nandigram. The BJP leader has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, seeking the “strictest action” against the ‘anti-national' police officers who stopped the Tiranga rally.

According to the West Bengal police, permission was only sought for padayatra (foot march) and not a two-wheeler rally in Nandigram, East Midnapore. "Bike rally cannot be carried out, the permission is only for 'Padayatra'. They don't have the police permission for a bike rally," said Shraddha N Pandey, Addl SP, Haldia, Purba Medinipur.

However, Adhikari said 'Har Ghar Tiranga’ is neither a political nor a religious rally and does not require permission to be organised. “I'm not standing in Islamabad, Pakistan. We don't need to take any permission for the Tiranga yatra. Is it a crime to carry the national flag in West Bengal?” he asked.

Suvendu Adhikari seeks action against police

Later, Adhikari wrote a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, seeking “strictest action against the police officers who obstructed the Tiranga rally and disrespected the national flag”.

"Har Ghar Tiranga is neither a political nor a religious rally. It is also not a public meeting. We wanted to hold a peaceful campaign. However, Mamata Banerjee’s police did not let us campaign for the same. I will mail a letter to the Union Home Minister seeking the strictest of action against the Bengal Police,” said Adhikari.

To mark the 75 years of India's independence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given the clarion call to celebrate the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign as a mass movement by hoisting or displaying the national flag at their houses from August 13-15. He also encouraged people to upload 'Tiranga’ as a display picture on their social media accounts between August 2 and 15 to commemorate the 75th Independence Day.