CALCUTTA, May 10: The State unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) threatened `a bloodbath if either the CPI(M) or Congress tried to stop Advani's Swarnajayanti Rath' which is scheduled to reach West Bengal on June 22.

The top State leaders are convening a high-level meeting on May 16 to prepare the party cadres at grass-root level to face any eventuality in case the Marxists and Congress implemented their design to thwart the rath yatra. The state BJP leaders have already begun to smell a rat, said party sources. The State leaders said they saw a conspiracy by the Congress and CPI(M) to discredit the rath yatra as a communal event. The meeting will discuss plans and programmes to make the rath yatra a success.

The State secretary Rahul Sinha said both the parties have already started campaign to stir up communal passion which the party's state unit wouldn't allow. The meeting would also draw up plans to launch counter-propaganda campaign to fight the disinformation campaign of the rival camps.

Incidentally, Advani's Ram rath could only touch upon a little of West Bengal. This time the BJP has not only drawn up a massive two-day schedule for the event, but it is preparing so that the rath could cover almost all important parts of the State. The rath, which would enter Bengal from Dhanbad, would tour Asansol, Durgapur, Bardhawan, Mednapore, Bankura, Vishnupur, Uloobaria and after touring other places, would reach the Calcutta on June. 23

According to Sinha, the state unit will have its own raths to tour the parts which Advani's Swarnajayanti Rath will not be able to cover during two days. Advani's tour which would conincide with the death anniversary of Samaprasad Mukherjee, is expected to be a great success and already beginning to unnerve the Congress and the CPI(M).

A senior state Congress leader, Manas Bhuian, belonging to Soumen Mitra group, blamed the Marxists for creating political conditions which would be conducive to BJP's making inroads into the state.

The Congress leader said the rath would stir up communal passion in a State where there had been no communal disturbances and the CPI(M) was responsible for this, Bhuian said.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.