KOLKATA: Giving a clarion call ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the CPI(M) asked the people of West Bengal, who previously supported the Trinamool Congress, to join the party’s fight against the corruption orchestrated by Bengal’s ruling party which is also a Left Front’s INDIA alliance partner.
Addressing a massive rally in Brigade Parade Ground, Kolkata’s prime seat to organise protest programmes, Minakshi Mukherjee, the state president of CPI(M)’s youth wing DYFI who contested against chief minister Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram, said, “Our hands are extended to welcome those who supported the TMC with a hope that it would bring changes but got disappointed because of corruption during the ongoing regime corrupt party. You thought an angel would come from the sky and bring paribartan (changes). But now you are witnessing many of the ruling party leadership facing charges of corruption. They are now sleeping on the floor of jails for snatching away their rights. Our hands are extended to welcome you in the fight against corruption against the TMC.
Thousands of CPI(M) supporters turned up at the rally venue spilling over the arterial thoroughfares of the state capital.
Taking a jibe at chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s khela hobe (there will be a game) coinage before the high-octane 2021 Assembly elections, Minakshi, who was the main speaker at the event, said, “We are ready to take control of the field marked by you for a game.”
CPI(M) state secretary Mohammad Selim welcomes the gathering who responded to the party’s youth wing’s call for the rally. “The youths in the state will have to be united against the ongoing anarchy during the regime of the TMC-led government.
After completing your education, you are jobless. TMC satraps appointed their men in exchange for money snatching away deserving candidates like you. The young blood of the state can end this corruption,” he said while addressing the assembly.
The leaders and supporters of the DYFI organised a 50-day walk, titled Insaaf Yatra (walk for justice) covering 2,900 km stretch from north Bengal to south Bengal to urge the people to participate in the rally.
The CPI(M), which failed to send a single MLA in the House of 283 legislators, portrayed the DYFI event as a new milestone because of the huge turnout of supporters.
This was the first time since 2008 that the CPI(M) brought its youth wing to the forefront in organising a political rally at a venue considered to be the largest in the Bengal capital.
Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari rubbished CPI(M)’s claim to give the TMC a fight in the elections. “The CPI(M) is fighting against TMC in West Bengal. But Minakshi’s uncle Sitaram Yechuri is sharing biryani with them in Delhi,” he said.
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said the turnout in the Brigade rally will not be reflected in the election result.
