A day after Mamata Banerjee attended the protest rally by opposition parties in Delhi, her faction of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday held a demonstration in Kolkata's Rajabazar area, seeking the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over the SIR exercise.
Though the party workers planned to march from Rajabazar to Park Circus, which is 5 km away, the presence of police and paramilitary forces did not let them move forward.
Party leaders, including MLAs Kunal Ghosh and Sobhadeb Chattopadhyay, chose not to march to Park Circus. Mamata stayed put at her residence.
"We did not come here to fight. We had come to hold a rally. They did not allow us to hold the rally," said Sobhadeb Chattopadhyay, stating that not permitting the rally amounts to dictatorship.
Kolkata Police Commissioner Ajay Nand said no official intimation about the rally had been received by the authorities. "Which rally are you talking about? We do not have any information regarding any rally or any official intimation. Let me see, during this time of Durga Puja," he told reporters at the police headquarters in Lalbazar.
Taking a swipe, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari had on Monday said that the rally will end before it starts. "We will not allow them to come out. I have instructed the CP that the rally shouldn't move a step forward from Rajabazar. If required, I have asked him to deploy central forces," he had said.
MLA Kunal Ghosh, while addressing party supporters at the protest site, said they would abide by rules, choosing not to proceed or get into confrontation with the police.
Meanwhile, the Muslim dominant area of Rajabazar saw protesters backing Mamata on the streets. She has a sizeable minority support base in this area, which is likely one of the reasons for holding the rally in this pocket. The proposed end location of the rally, Park Circus, is also a minority dominant area and there were a handful of people waiting for the rally to culminate here.
“Mamata said she is supporting the Cockroach Janata Party protest. CJP, Trinamool Congress, Congress and every other party is working for the public. We want the arrest and resignation of Gyanesh Kumar,” said Upasana Chowdhury, media in-charge of the Mamata faction.
Party supporters were seen holding TMC flags and posters with TMC logo, seeking Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation. The Election Commission of India (ECI) had allotted separate names and party symbols for the Mamata and Ritabrata Banerjee factions on September 18 ahead of the Rejinagar and Nandigram bypolls. Mamata’s faction was recognised as Mamata All India Trinamool Congress (MAITC) with the football symbol while Ritabrata’s faction was allotted the name of Democratic Trinamool Congress (DTC) with an envelope as their symbol.
While Mamata is making her presence felt on the national stage protesting alongside other India bloc leaders in Delhi, the former CM is looking to build momentum for protests on the issue back in her state too.
