BJP workers clash with police in West Bengal
Kolkata: BJP workers clashed with the police at several places of West Bengal Sunday as the saffron party was prevented from holding its 'Vijay Sankalp' motorbike rally.
Police said they prevented the rallies as permission had not been granted to them because of the ongoing school board examinations.
The 'Vijay Sankalp' bike rally is part of the BJP's countrywide pre-poll exercise to establish contact with people.
Clashes between BJP workers and policemen took place at Durgapur and Asansol in West Burdwan district, Midnapore town and Goaltore in West Midnapore, and Balurghat in South Dinajpur when they took out the motorcycle rallies.
At Goaltore, a DSP level officer and four other policemen were injured, police sources in West Midnapore said.
The police resorted to lathicharge to disperse the saffron party workers at Asansol and Goaltore leaving some people from both sides injured.
BJP state president Dilip Ghosh accused the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) of using the police and administration to prevent the party workers from holding peaceful rallies out of fear of losing political ground in West Bengal.
Claiming that it is a new BJP in the state which will not take intimidation lying down, Ghosh said if the TMC leaders think they can frighten saffron party workers by using force, then they are mistaken.
"Hundreds of Sankalp yatras were arrested.... It will be held even if the police arrest us," Ghosh said in the morning at Durgapur.
Saffron party leaders engaged in arguments with police in the city as they were prevented from taking out rallies owing the lack of permission.
An officer of Kolkata Police said 135 persons were arrested and 59 motorcycles were seized from different places of the city as a preventive measure.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
