Kolkata geared up to host the 17th edition of West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s annual July 21 rally.
Unlike previous years, there is no Mukul Roy or Madan Mitra, and the gathering is being organised by the chief minister's nephew Abhishek Banerjee, himself chief of the Trinamool's youth wing.
Some things, however, will not change. Lakhs of supporters will rally at Esplanade East in central Kolkata, throwing the city into chaos and bringing traffic to a standstill for a few hours. Like every year, Banerjee will lay down her forthcoming political programme. But subtle changes will be noted by the average Trinamool Congress flag-bearer, to whom Roy was the go-to man for the annual event and in most critical situations.
Supporters and party workers have already started milling in from across the state for the rally, which marks “Martyrs’ Day” in remembrance of 13 Youth Congress workers who fell to police bullets on this day in 1993. Banerjee was a Congress leader then, and the Left Front was in power.
Banerjee, with Roy and a few others, founded the Trinamool Congress in 1998.
This year, too, significant announcements are likely, given that the state Assembly polls are scheduled for April-May next year. There will, however, be no Roy or Mitra. While Mitra is currently in judicial custody for his alleged role in the multi-crore Saradha scam, Roy has been shunted out for hobnobbing with CBI officials, who summoned him for interrogation in the scam probe. This will be the first time the Trinamool’s foundation that Roy will not attend the annual rally.
Party insiders said the resulting change is visible everywhere, from promoting the event via YouTube to the massive stage with no separate enclosure for the kin of the “martyrs” for the first time.