Mamata welcomes SC order on BJP rath yatra; no setback, says saffron party

The BJP Tuesday said it did not consider a setback the Supreme Court verdict, putting on hold the party's proposed "rath yatra" programme in West Bengal, even as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee welcomed the order.

The saffron party said it would decide on its future action after discussions with the central leadership.

The proposed 'rath yatras' of the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls were put on hold Tuesday by the apex court, which asked the party to seek a fresh approval from the state government by submitting a revised proposal.

Banerjee told reporters at the state secretariat 'Nabanna', "I welcome the court order. I'm not going to make any comment."

BJP state president Dilip Ghosh declined to accept the SC verdict as a setback and said the party would take up other programmes to expose the "misrule" of the Trinamool Congress government in the state.

"In politics sometimes you taste success, sometimes you taste defeat. But there is nothing called setback. We have other plans ready