Amid TMC supporters marching towards the Martyrs’ Day rally venue at Kolkata’s Esplanade crossing, the party supremo said that “India is a stage drive away BJP“We can’t tolerate it (BJP) anymore,” he said from the country.
The Chief Minister of West Bengal congratulated TMC supporters for the massive victory in the Panchayat elections.
Expressing his solidarity with the people of Manipur, the TMC leader warned the Center to stage a sit-in in Delhi on October 5 over the state’s dues.
Banerjee said, “We express our solidarity with the people of Manipur. The women will throw you out of India.”
The Chief Minister of West Bengal said that on August 5 the houses of BJP leaders will be barricaded, but the meeting is to be held 100 meters away from the houses, so the BJP leaders cannot say anything about “wrongful confinement”.
He also regretted the violence during the recent Panchayat elections.
“We are number one in Social Security. That’s why BJP is getting jealous. NITI Aayog is also saying about the developments. There were some incidents in the panchayat elections. We do not approve of this. I’m sorry about that. CPM should remember how many people were killed in 2003. There were 89 deaths. Fifteen deaths occurred on polling day. So far 29 deaths and 18 of them were Trinamool supporters. Three were from BJP and three were CPM supporters,” she said.
Hitting out at the BJP over the alleged doctored video, Mamata said the BJP was planning to design the fake video to humiliate Bengal, adding, “If the BJP comes back to power, there will be no democracy.”
TMC supporters throng Kolkata
Thousands of Trinamool Congress workers from villages and towns across the state reached Kolkata for the ruling party’s ‘Martyr’s Day’ rally on Friday.
Traffic in the metropolis came to a standstill as thousands of enthusiastic TMC supporters marched towards the Five-Point Esplanade crossing, the venue of the rally.
Buoyed by the recent victory in the rural elections, many enthusiastic party workers have already arrived and are living in camps at Salt Lake and elsewhere.
“We have taken all kinds of measures to ensure smooth traffic as it is a regular day. There will be a huge rush of people for a political meeting in the heart of the city.
“We have decided to keep some roads closed for vehicular movement due to the rally. Besides, the route will also be diverted so that people do not face any movement,” an official of the Kolkata Police Traffic Department told PTI.
As the supporters headed towards the city, trucks played TMC’s latest song “Hingsa, bibad rekho na, Trinamool ke chero na” (Don’t stick with violence or fights, stick with Trinamool instead).
Around 5,000 policemen have been deployed in and around the city to keep an eye on law and order especially for the rally, another police officer said.
Senior police officers of the rank of JCP, DCP, ACP have been deployed around the rally venue, as police are also keeping a watch from high-rise buildings around the venue.
“Drones will be used to monitor Friday’s proceedings,” he added.
In a video message, Mamata Banerjee had said, “The Martyrs’ Day rally on July 21 holds a special place in our hearts. We are dedicating this day to our martyrs and party workers.”
The rally, which is supposed to be a show of TMC’s public support and strength, is being organized at a time when several party leaders are behind bars in corruption cases.
The cases are being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Posters and banners carrying pictures of party supremo Mamata Banerjee and asking people to join the rally were spread across the streets, lanes and bylanes of the city.
Meanwhile, many office-goers faced traffic jams and congested public transport to reach their workplace.
SBI assistant manager Nupur Sengupta, who lives near Kudghat, said she left home at around 7 am to reach her branch at Vikas Bhavan in Salt Lake.
Sengupta said, “First I tried to hire a yellow cab, but he asked me to pay Rs 1,500. Then I tried to book an app-cab, but could not book even after trying for 30 minutes. I faced a lot of trouble in reaching my office and I was late.”
Many private offices opted for ‘work from home’ mode on Friday.
online classes
Due to the rally, most schools in the city on Friday opted for online classes.
Lakhs of people are participating in the rally that the party has been organizing over the years in memory of the 13 Congress supporters who were killed in police firing during a march by the CPI(M)-led Left to the state secretariat – Writers’ Building – in 1993 when the Front was in power in the state.
Mamata Banerjee was the state Youth Congress chief at that time and even after the Trinamool Congress was formed on January 1, 1998, she continued to rally on this day every year.
with PTI input