Martyr's Day Rally today: ‘Bengali pride' to be centrepiece of Mamata's poll pitch

Indian Express

6 days ago

As the political situation in West Bengal simmers, Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson Mamata Banerjee will address the Shaheed Diwas (Martyrs' Day) rally in Kolkata on Monday, setting the tone for the high-voltage campaign for the Assembly election that is less than a year away. From the stage in the heart of Kolkata, Banerjee is expected to take on the BJP on the issue of 'Bengali ashmita (pride)' and detention of Bengali-speaking migrants in various states.
In recent weeks, a political storm has been brewing in Bengal, with the CM alleging that Bengali-speaking migrants in BJP-ruled states are being subjected to linguistic profiling in the name of national security and detained.
The BJP has countered this, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying at a public meeting in Durgapur in Paschim Bardhaman district last Friday that the TMC is 'actively helping infiltrators' and hindering the state's development through corruption and violence. The PM insisted that 'Bengali pride' was 'supreme' for his party. 'Wherever there is a BJP government, Bengalis are respected,' he said.
From the stage in Dharmatala, Banerjee is expected to respond to this specifically and the PM's other comments broadly, and present a roadmap to the Assembly election battle next year. TMC leaders believe the gist of her speech at the biggest event on the party's annual calendar will be raising the pitch on the detention of Bengali-speaking migrants to paint the party as one at odds with the interests of Bengalis. This is a strategy that helped the TMC post a commanding win in the 2021 Assembly polls.
Like last year, the CM is also expected to send a message to her party workers and leaders on the importance of maintaining a clean image and working transparently. In 2024, both the TMC chief and her nephew and de facto second-in-command, Abhishek Banerjee, had urged party workers to be 'more polite and humble' and not do anything wrong.
'We will not tolerate any injustice,' the CM had said in a signal to party strongmen.
With questions being raised about the law-and-order situation in the state following the rape and murder of a doctor at R G Kar Medical College last year, communal violence in Murshidabad in April, and an alleged rape at a law college in Kolkata last month, the TMC government is under pressure, and there will be intense scrutiny in the lead-up to the election.
'Mamata Banerjee has raised her voice against the humiliation meted out to Bengali-speaking migrant workers in some BJP-ruled states. It is obvious that in the next election, 'Bangali ashmita (pride)' will be the prime electoral agenda, along with the Centre's stepmotherly attitude towards Bengal. Also, Didi will call for maintaining communal harmony in the state. Above all, she and Abhishek will set the tone for the Assembly election campaign,' said a senior TMC leader who did not wish to be named.
'The CM may also raise the issue of corruption allegations and other serious accusations against party leaders. She has not publicly spoken about the alleged rape at the law college and may again send out a signal to the party rank-and-file that such things won't be tolerated,' said another TMC leader.
The Leader of the Opposition in the state, Suvendu Adhikari, meanwhile, will lead a protest march to Uttar Kanya, the branch of the secretariat in Siliguri in north Bengal, on Monday.
For years, the July 21 rally has been the TMC's launchpad for its annual political agenda. It is held to commemorate the police firing on Youth Congress workers on July 21, 1993, in which 13 people were killed. The Youth Congress, then led by Banerjee, had organised the march to protest against alleged vote rigging by the then Left Front government and to demand that photo voter IDs be made mandatory to ensure fair voting.
From the following year, the Congress began to mark July 21 as 'Shaheed Diwas'. When Banerjee left the party along with a large section of the state Congress to launch the TMC in 1998, the new party carried on the tradition. After the 2011 Assembly election win, Banerjee held her victory rally at the Brigade Parade Ground on July 21. It was the only time she held the rally at a place other than Dharmatala, the usual site of the public meeting.
Opp trying to thwart our rally: Mamata
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday alleged that the Opposition parties were trying to thwart the Martyrs' Day rally of the TMC, describing it as the battle for democracy against authoritarianism.
Banerjee, who inspected arrangements at the venue of the meeting at Esplanade in the heart of the city, however, did not name any opposition party.
'When someone announces a rally towards state secretariat Nabanna, do we have any issue? When you (opposition) hold rallies without police permission, we don't stand in your way,' the TMC chief told reporters at the venue.
The TMC believes in democratic rights of everyone to take out rallies to voice their protests, she said, adding that the July 21 event is a battle for democracy against authoritarianism. 'But you become jittery when people turn out in TMC's rally on July 21 in large numbers to save the rights of Maa Mati Manush (mother, land and people),' she said.
Banerjee said, 'You called parallel rallies. Well, go ahead, but people are with us.' She was alluding to the rallies of the BJP called on the same day in Siliguri and Paschim Bardhaman. 'Those opposed to the 21st July rally should learn from Trinamool,' she said. The CM's statement came two days after the Calcutta High Court put some restrictions on when processions will be allowed in the city to avoid traffic congestion and help commuters.
-with PTI inputs