TMC gears up for ‘historic’ Mamata march

Trinamul leaders in Darjeeling district and other parts of north Bengal are working overtime to ensure the presence of thousands of party supporters from different communities at Mamata Banerjee’s mega rally in Siliguri against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the NRC.

On Tuesday, the BJP organised a rally in support of the CAA in Siliguri, with former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Bengal unit chief Dilip Ghosh and national secretary Rahul Sinha in attendance. Even before the march ended, Mamata announced in Calcutta that she would lead a 5km procession in Siliguri in protest against the CAA-NRC on December 30.

“However, there are indications that the date might be deferred as the chief minister will fly to Jharkhand to attend the swearing-in of Hemant Soren on December 29. She was supposed to arrive in Siliguri the same day. The rally here is likely to be pushed back to January 3. We have started making preparations,” a Trinamul leader said.

Trinamul suffered a setback in north Bengal in the Lok Sabha polls with the BJP winning seven of the eight seats. Trinamul also lost the Assembly bypolls to the Darjeeling and Habibpur seats that were held simultaneously with the parliamentary elections.

However, last month, Trinamul won the Assembly bypoll to the Kaliaganj seat in North Dinajpur.

The procession to be led by Mamata will be Trinamul’s first major political event in north Bengal after the Lok Sabha elections.

“On Tuesday, the BJP tried to prove its strength but barely managed to gather 7,000 people. Trinamul leaders here are keen to bring more people to the chief minister’s march so that a message can be sent across that the BJP’s support base has already begun withering,” a political observer said.

The participation at Trinamul’s march will be significant, the observer said.

“It would be interesting to see whether the party manages to get people from different communities like the Rajbanshis, Gorkhas and tribals who form a considerable portion of north Bengal’s population. This is important as these communities have different opinions on the CAA and the NRC,” he said.

How Siliguri residents respond to the event will also be noteworthy, the observer said. Next year, elections will be held to the Siliguri Municipal Corporation and the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad. The Left is in power in both.

“Several people who had voted the BJP have begun shunning the party, especially after the NRC and the CAA. There are enough indications that Trinamul is reviving its base and people are returning to our side. We are making all possible efforts to make the rally a success. Siliguri will witness a historic march as people will spontaneously join Mamata Banerjee,” said Rabindranath Ghosh, the north Bengal development minister.

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