Mamata flexing ‘united Opposition’ muscle at July 21 rally: Reading between the lines
What the no-trust motion in Parliament couldn’t consolidate, Mamata Banerjee aspires to do.
If she manages to convince all the leaders of the opposition parties, the nation will see the face of the united Opposition in Kolkata on January 19, next year. For the first time.
The TRS and BJD did not support the no-confidence motion in Parliament on Friday. But their leaders will attend the rally in Kolkata, the chief minister sounded confident when she announced the date of the proposed rally, while addressing the Martyrs' Day assembly on July 21; an annual occasion to pay homage to 13 Youth Congress activists killed in police firing in 1993.
Will CPM be there in January 19 rally?
Whether the rally of the united Opposition will have room for Mamata's arch-rival in the state, the CPM, is not yet clear. Similarly, there is ‘studied silence’ about the presence of the Congress. (The party sided with the Congress in the no-confidence motion in Parliament, but happily welcomed the defectors from the Congress at the July 21 gathering.)
Sources said that Mamata will meet MK Stalin next month and invite him to the rally.
Countering BJP’s slogan of Ebar Bangla (This time West Bengal), the TMC will start campaigning with its slogan BJP Hothhao, desh Bnachao (Drive away the BJP, save the nation) from August 1. The party has also planned a public meeting on the same ground where PM Narendra Modi addressed a rally. Mamata will address another public rally at Jhargram on August 9.
July 21: A day to welcome turncoats
Since 2011, the year the TMC came to power in West Bengal, July 21 has been an occasion to officially welcome new members to the party.
With another year left for the Lok Sabha elections, this year the ritual gained in importance as Chandan Mitra, a close aide of LK Advani, joined the TMC.
The two-time Rajya Sabha MP and the editor-in-chief of The Pioneer, Chandan Mitra, who was as cornered in the BJP as Advani is, resigned from the party a few days ago.
Apart from Ritabrata Banerejee, who had been expelled from the CPM for his wayward ways, about 56 elected representatives from Jhargram crossed over to the TMC. Significantly, BJP had performed well in that particular belt in the Panchayat elections.
Soft Hindu line?
At a time when Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s “Taliban Hindu” comment has triggered political debates, Banerjee too resorted to the same metaphor, as she said, “The way lynching is happening everywhere in the country, they (BJP, RSS) are creating Talibanis among people. In BJP and RSS, there are good people whom I respect but some are playing dirty games.”
As the BJP heavyweights (Modi and Amit Shah) campaigning in Bengal have started admiring iconic Bengali figures like Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Abanindranath Tagore, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Kshudiram Bose, Matangini Hajra, Mamata, who is already known for her obeisance for the cultural icons, took one step further and expressed her concerns for the Bengalis being persecuted in Assam and Manipur.
In what may come across as a stark departure from her usual Muslim appeasement, she invoked Devi Durga, Ganapati, Vaishno Devi, Santoshi Maa in her speech.
The number game
The number of people who gather at this annual event of ‘flaunting’ strength matters the most to the party. The authenticity of the number can never be relied upon, but it is rarely below 10 lakhs.
This year, however, the crowd was not as thick as it used to be. The CM said the party could not rent a train to transport people from various districts to Kolkata.
Is there more than meets the eye? Only time will tell.