The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal is all set to organise a mega rally in Kolkata today to protest against the alleged post-poll violence that had rocked the state after the Trinamool Congress (TMC) won the fiercely-contested assembly elections for the third consecutive row last year.
“It will be a mega protest rally against the terror that has been unleashed by the ruling TMC. Several of our party workers have been killed. The rally has been organised to condemn the blood sucking TMC-government,” said Sukanta Majumdar, state BJP president.
May 2 marks the anniversary of the Mamata Banerjee-government returning to power in 2021. Post-poll violence allegedly erupted in the state hours after the results of the assembly polls were declared on May 2 last year.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), on the orders of the Calcutta high court, is already probing the allegations of murders and rapes that took place after the 2021 assembly polls.
Top BJP leaders from the state unit, including the party’s state president Sukanta Majumdar, national vice-president Dilip Ghosh and leader of the opposition in the state legislative assembly Suvendu Adhikary, are scheduled to lead the rally in central Kolkata on Monday afternoon.
A senior BJP leader said that union home minister Amit Shah is also scheduled to come to West Bengal on a three-day visit starting from May 4. He is expected to address a BJP rally at Siliguri in north Bengal on May 5.
It was on May 5 that TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee took oath as the chief minister for the third time in a row.
The TMC, however, has hit back saying that the BJP is not being able to digest the defeat in the assembly polls. During campaigning in the run up to the assembly polls last year, the BJP’s central leaders had claimed that the party would come to power with more than 200 seats in West Bengal. It, however, ended up winning only 77 seats.
The ruling TMC is also all set to launch a massive public outreach program over the next few months starting from May 5 which commemorates the day when party supremo Mamata Banerjee took oath as the chief minister last year.
This comes at a time when the TMC has come under fire over a series of incidents including rape, massacre and corruption. The panchayat elections are likely to be held next year.
“The TMC supremo has directed all leaders to hit the streets, visit villages and blocks to reach out to the people. This would be done in phases,” said a TMC MP.
While the first phase would be held from May 5 and continue till July 21, the second phase will start right after the TMC’s July 21 mega rally and continue till October when the festival season starts. The third phase will start around November when the festivity ends.