Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to announce her party’s future course of action till 2024 general elections in a mega rally scheduled to be held on Thursday to commemorate the Trinamool Congress Martyrs’ Day.
According to party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee the mega show of strength held every year on July 21 — with the exception of 2020 and 2021 when it had to be canceled on account of the corona pandemic — “will witness a record footfall crossing all our expectations.”
On whether the Chief Minister was likely to announce anything new or whether there would be some more defections from other parties on Friday, Banerjee who is also the nephew of the Chief Minister said “whether there are new joinings in the TMC will be made clear on Friday … but more important thing is that the Chief Minister will announce the party’s future course of action for the coming panchayat elections and the 2024 general polls which we the common party men will try to make happen by employing all our might.”
He said about one lakh people had already arrived in Kolkata and many more were likely to come by the night. Massive arrangements had been made for the rallyists coming from various parts of the State.
Accordingly the Geetanjali Stadium in South Kolkata and Central Park in Salt Lake had been requisitioned by the party to host the visitors.
The TMC organises a Sahid Diwas rally annually to commemorate the 1993 Kolkata Police firing 13 that saw 13 people dead during a controversial rally led by then State Youth Congress president Mamata Banerjee on 21 July 1993. The police opened fire after nearly one lakh tried to charge at the Writers’ Buildings the State’s seat of power to unset the then Jyoti Basu government. She had been demanding Voter's Identity Card to be made the sole required document for voting.
Banerjee who has thus far maintained a studied silence on her party’s stance in regard to the vice-presidential elections is likely to take a stand on Friday. She has already been under severe criticism from State Congress president Adhir Chowdhury for not only making her stand clear but also secretly meeting NDA vice presidential nominee and then Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar at Darjeeling Raj Bhavan.
The “informal meeting” took place for more than-two-and-a-half-hours in presence of Assam Chief Minister Hemant Biswa Sarma. “If someone tells even an ass that the BJP did not share the information --- of making Dhankhar the Vice President --- with Mamata Banerjee then even the animal would not believe it,” Chowdhury said. CPI(M)’s Sujan Chakrabarty said “the Chief Minister was lamenting about not being informed about Draupadi Murmu’s candidature so this time she was taken into consideration … after they are close friends of long years … we have repeatedly told that Mamata Banerjee too takes inspiration from Nagpur … she is only befooling the secular people of the country.” Meanwhile, the Calcutta High on Thursday gave a conditional permission to the BJP to hold a parallel rally at Uluberia near Howrah. While the BJP had asked for a permission for a daytime rally almost at the time when TMC’s meeting and rallies would take place the Court allowed the saffron party to hold a rally late in the evening between 8 and 10 pm.