Purulia police have started cases against the BJP for holding Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s rally on Tuesday without permission and the decorator who had constructed the dais and supplied equipment.

District police chief Akash Magharia said they have started cases under section 188 of the IPC (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant)

and seized the loudspeakers and chairs supplied to the rally.

If proved guilty, the accused face imprisonment between one and six months. The cases were started on Thursday.

Adityanath addressed a save democracy rally organised by the BJP unit in Purulia at Bhangra, about 8km from Purulia town. He came by road to the rally from Jharkhand’s Zaika in Bokaro after his chopper was not given permission to land in Purulia.

Sources said the Purulia district administration did not give permission for the rally citing reasons of security to the UP chief minister and objections of owners of lands adjoining the venue.

The BJP leaders described the move as “political vendetta” while the decorator pleaded innocence as he was not aware that there was no permission for the rally.

“It is again proved there is no democracy in Bengal where the Opposition is not allowed to hold ralliesWhat was his (decorator’s) fault? It is clear political vendetta,” said Vidyasagar Chakraborty, Purulia BJP president.

“I have supplied loudspeakers and other electrical gadgets to Mamata Banerjee’ rallies when she was in the opposition and also to rallies of Congress and CPM but never faced such criminal charges,” the decorator said and alleged threats from Trinamul leaders .

Trinamul denied the allegations.