Mamata's last Martyrs' Day rally ahead of 2024 General Elections today
Kolkata/IBNS: Days after the sweep in the panchayat polls, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee will hold the Martyrs' Day rally, which will be the last before the next General Elections, on Friday.
The rally, which is the annual mega political event of the ruling party, is held at Esplanade in downtown Kolkata.
This year's rally has assumed significance as the TMC swept the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Left and Congress in the violence-marred panchayat polls.
Moreover, Mamata's rally comes just a few days after 26 anti-BJP parties formed an opposition alliance, named 'INDIA', to deny Prime Minister Narendra Modi a straight term in the coming year.
While her attacks on BJP is expected, Mamata's message for Left and Congress, the two parties which unsparingly slam TMC in the state, will be key as her hobnobbing with Congress top leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi was visible in the Opposition's Bengaluru meet.
Besides calling Rahul "favourite", Mamata also exchanged greetings with Left leaders Sitaram Yechury and D Raja.
However, the local Left and Congress leaders have cleared they will have no alliance with TMC in West Bengal despite the top brass' attempt to iron-out the local differences.
In the morning, TMC national general secretary and Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee tweeted, "#ShahidDibas, a day of resilience, evokes countless emotions in our hearts!
"Today, Bengal pays homage to the 13 gallant martyrs who sacrificed their lives while fighting tyrannical forces and upholding democratic ethos. Inspired, I shall keep working towards a just society."
#ShahidDibas, a day of resilience, evokes countless emotions in our hearts!
— Abhishek Banerjee (@abhishekaitc) July 21, 2023
Today, Bengal pays homage to the 13 gallant martyrs who sacrificed their lives while fighting tyrannical forces and upholding democratic ethos.
Inspired, I shall keep working towards a just society.
On this day in 1993, 13 people were shot by police during the Left Front regime when then Congress youth leader Mamata Banerjee was leading a rally demanding that identity cards be made mandatory to cast votes.