Crowd, communities come as solace for TMC

AVIJIT SINHA & BIRESWAR BANERJEE, TT, 04 Jan 2020, Siliguri: The 3.5km march led by Mamata Banerjee here on Friday against the Centre's citizenship thrust witnessed the presence of a large crowd comprising members of different communities.

Over 35,000 people walked with the chief minister through prominent thoroughfares of the city, the longest march that Siliguri saw in recent times.

An equal number of people stood on either side of the route from Hill Cart Road to Baghajatin Park through Kutcheri Road, cheering and welcoming "Didi" who moved ahead with deft strides. Slogans against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, National Register of Citizens and the National Population Register rented the air.

"It was the longest march in recent times and we have proved that people have shunned the BJP and are with us. The event was like a test for us and it seems we have passed with flying colours," said a Trinamul leader in Siliguri.

Along with the show of strength, Trinamul also managed to establish another major point through the meeting and the march -- the presence of people of different communities.

From the hills, at least 10,000 Gorkhas had descended to attend the event. So had the Rajbanshis and tribals, who reached from different locations of the Siliguri subdivision and the neighbouring Jalpaiguri district in large numbers.

Last month, the BJP had taken out a procession here in support of the CAA. The presence of Gorkhas, Rajbanshis and tribals was minimal then.

"Also, members of the minority community and different income groups of the society walked in our rally. This is significant," the Trinamul leader said.

The gathering left party leaders and state ministers and Aroop Biswas and Gautam Deb elated. Mamata herself appeared satisfied to see the large gathering.

In Siliguri, this is Mamata's second march. In March 2016, she had taken out a similar walk.

"That was ahead of the Assembly polls and even then, the crowd that had gathered was less than what we saw here on Friday," said a political analyst.

He also pointed out a sharp contrast that was witnessed within a gap of 10 months. Back in April 2019, Mamata had been to Baghajatin Park to address a public meeting ahead of the Parliament polls. There were hardly 3,000 people at the venue and the ground was only partially filled.

"People had even started leaving while she was speaking. But as she reached the same venue today and took the microphone, people started pouring in thousands, even though it was drizzling. The response was spontaneous and they listened to her, cheered and shouted slogans. This is a significant change," the analyst said.

The turnout at the rally and the march has bolstered the confidence of Trinamul leaders, many of whom were crestfallen after BJP had bagged seven of eight Lok Sabha seats in north Bengal.

"In the past couple of months, there were some indications that people were returning to us. But on Friday, the response of people made us believe that the trend is in favour of us. Leaders in Siliguri should see that Trinamul wins in the civic and rural polls here," a Trinamul leader of Jalpaiguri, who was at the rally, said.

The presence of large number of Gorkhas made Mamata announce from the dais that she would be in the hills on January 22 to hold a march.

So far, it is the Binay Tamang faction of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha -- an ally of Trinamul -- that has been organising the movement against the CAA and the NRC.

"Since 2011, unlike other districts of north Bengal, Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts have always eluded Trinamul and the party could win one Assembly seat once and could bag only one of five civic bodies so far. On the other hand, BJP, by allying with Morcha (Bimal faction) and GNLF, has proved to be steady performer. That is why it seems, Mamata Banerjee is refocussing into the district and this time, wants to try the CAA and NRC cards against BJP," said an observer..