TMC plans to take its Martyr’s Day event beyond Bengal
TMC observes July 21 as Martyr’s Day every year in remembrance of the 13 people who were killed at a Youth Congress rally. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee was then the leader of the West Bengal Youth Congress
West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) plans to involve its supporters outside the state in its annual July 21 programme to commemorate 13 people, who were killed in police firing in 1993 during a rally organised for demanding that voter identity cards be made the sole required document for voting for fair polling.
TMC observes July 21 as Martyr’s Day every year in remembrance of the 13 people who were killed at a Youth Congress rally. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee was then the leader of the West Bengal Youth Congress.
“Our supporters in other states would participate in the programme. They can watch it live as the address of TMC (chief)... Mamata Banerjee would be aired virtually. The format in which the party would observe the programme in other states would be declared later. Preparations are going on.”
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The announcement comes a month after Abhishek Banerjee, TMC’s national general secretary, who is seen as the in-charge of the party’s expansion plans, announced in June that they plan to expand their base in other states ahead of the 2024 national polls to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
A TMC leader said plans were afoot to set up giant screens outside the TMC offices in some states including Uttar Pradesh and Tripura to beam Mamata Banerjee’s address. “A screen is also likely to be set up outside the TMC office in Delhi,” said the leader, requesting anonymity.
Mamata Banerjee will address the annual event virtually for the second year due to the pandemic.
Assembly elections are due in Uttar Pradesh in 2022 and in Tripura a year later. TMC leaders, who did not want to be named, said the party hopes to make inroads into Tripura, which has a sizeable Bengali-speaking population. The party has a unit in the state as well.
The BJP mocked the TMC’s plans to observe the programme in Uttar Pradesh and Tripura. “The pandemic has necessitated such virtual meetings... Even small groups can hold a virtual meeting which can be seen by one or two persons in the US and even in Antarctica...,” said BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya.