After Delhi, the Trinamool Congress is now taking to the streets of Kolkata in protest against the central government and the Election Commission. The party has called a protest march from Rajabazar to Park Circus at 2pm on Tuesday, the third day of Debipaksha.
A party leader said Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee may take part. Neither permission for the march nor her presence is final yet, however.
A leaflet published by Trinamool protests against what it calls the central government’s stifling of democracy, demands the resignation and arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, and protests against the detention of opposition leaders in Delhi. The party says the programme is aimed at protecting the opposition’s political rights and democratic space.
Opposition parties’ protests have recently grown stronger around the demonstrations against the Election Commission in Delhi. Alleging irregularities in the special intensive revision of the electoral rolls, the protesters have demanded the chief election commissioner’s resignation. The truth of these allegations against the Election Commission has not been independently established.
Mamata Banerjee had earlier expressed support for that movement. She had also spoken of standing by the young generation and students. Trinamool’s protest against the central government has grown stronger since the detention of opposition leaders in Delhi.
There is still uncertainty, though, over whether she will be at Tuesday’s programme in Kolkata. It depends on the timing of her return to Kolkata after taking part in the Delhi programme and on her political programme after that.
Subhasish Chakraborty, a former Trinamool member of the Rajya Sabha, said they do not know whether police will give permission for the march. He maintained, however, that the protest march will go ahead and that the party chief will take part.
Crowds are growing in various parts of Kolkata ahead of Durga Puja. A march through important areas such as Rajabazar, CIT Road and Park Circus is likely to affect traffic. There are also questions about what steps will be taken to manage vehicles if police give permission.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report