The CPM has approached the Calcutta High Court against an alleged attempt by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and police to remove a temporary bookstall set up by the party in Jadavpur during Durga Puja, with the matter scheduled to be mentioned before the court’s vacation bench on October 22.
The petition seeks directions restraining the civic body and police from taking action against the stall, CPM lawyer Shamim Ahmed said on Monday. According to the party, the stall was targeted on Saturday over permission-related issues even though its application to set it up had not been considered by the authorities.
The legal move places the dispute within the municipal administration’s system for permitting temporary structures and activities in public spaces during large festivals. The report did not specify the location of the stall in Jadavpur, the nature of the alleged action or whether the KMC had issued a written order directing its removal.
The CPM has also alleged that temporary bookstalls run by it, the SUCI and other Left parties were vandalised at several locations in Bengal. The locations cited included Dinhata in Cooch Behar district and Haridevpur in south Kolkata. These allegations were presented as part of a wider dispute over the presence of political bookstalls near Durga Puja pandals.
CPM central committee member Sujan Chakraborty said Left parties had been setting up temporary bookstalls near puja pandals across Bengal for decades, claiming that the practice dated back to at least 1952. He described the alleged vandalism as an attack on democratic thought and accused the BJP of creating unrest during the festival. Those allegations were not independently established in the report.
A senior state minister, Swapan Dasgupta, condemned the incidents while speaking to a Bengali news channel during a visit to a Durga Puja pandal, according to the report. He said he did not know who was behind the attacks or their political affiliations, but added that incidents reported at more than one location could not be treated as isolated. He also said ideological differences with the Left should not prevent its members from displaying or selling books.
The dispute follows a September appeal by Suvendu Adhikari to Durga Puja committees not to allow CPM bookstalls outside pandals if they used the term “Sharodotsav” rather than “Durga Puja” to describe the festival. The CPM and other Left parties have maintained that their temporary stalls have operated near puja pandals in Bengal for decades.
The case is expected to be mentioned before the Calcutta High Court’s vacation bench on October 22. The hearing will indicate whether the court seeks responses from the KMC and police or issues any interim direction concerning the Jadavpur bookstall.
