India, May 14 -- Lawyer and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Koustav Bagchi has filed a petition in the Calcutta high court challenging the West Bengal government's decision to appoint 100 civic volunteers at the new Jagannath temple in Digha in West Bengal's east Midnapore district.

The petition has called the proposed appointments illegal and politically motivated. "Filed on Tuesday, the PIL will be heard by the division bench of justices Soumen Sen and Smita Das," Bagchi said.

The development comes against the backdrop of a political row between the BJP and West Bengal's Trinamool Congress (TMC) over the temple in Digha. On Sunday, the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) at the Jagannath temple in Odisha's Puri suspended ...