The Central government came to power because of the arbitrary decisions of the Election Commission, highhandedness of the Central investigative agencies; it is not a stable one and may collapse any day, said Trinamul Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee on Sunday. Miss Banerjee was addressing a mammoth rally organised to observe the Martyrs’ Day at Esplanade in Kolkata this afternoon. Holding high the hand of Samajwadi Party president and MP Akhilesh Yadav, Miss Banerjee said the Trinamul Congress fully supports the SP in Utter Pradesh and the two parties will work together to oust the BJP government and strengthen the INDIA bloc. Echoing Miss Banerjee, the Samajwadi Party president said the BJP government at the Centre can topple at any moment.

Coming down heavily on the BJP, he said: “The party has lost the confidence of the people. They are some how managing to stay at the Centre by the strength of the (Central investigative) agencies.” On 21 July 1993, 13 supporters of the Youth Congress who had assembled in different parts of the central business district to demand that voter ID cards should be made mandatory in elections, were killed in police firing. “Thirteen of my colleagues had laid down their lives on 21 July, 1993 and the movement had finally led to making voters’ ID card mandatory for election,” Miss Banerjee recalled on Sunday. Miss Banerjee said there no space for power- or muscle-flexing in the Trinamul Congress. “I do not want rich workers, my workers should be sincere and ready to sacrifice their lives for service to the people. Those who have not voted for us, we should try to bring them to our fold. Money will come and go but service to people remains,” she said, adding: “Do not be greedy and fall into the trap of the BJP.

So long as you work for the people, no one can dislodge you.” Lakhs of Trinamul Congress supporters braved torrential rain to give her a patient hearing. “ We could not do well in North Bengal. I ask the leaders to go to the people and apologise to them as they failed to understand them and voted against the party. In Malda, we lost two seats. People voted for Congress and BJP. Will they ever work for the development of the people?” she asked, and vowed that the Trinamul will do well in the 2026 Assembly election in the district. She thanked the people for giving their support to Trinamul Congress in the recently held general election which has helped the party to bag 29 out of 42 seats. “I thank the people of Baranagar, Bhagabangola, Ranaghat South, Mancktala, Bagda, Raigunj (where byelections were held recently).

We fought against the BJP, CPI-M and Congress. We have 10 lakh jobs ready but they are trying to thwart our move by filing Public Interest Litigation before the court. Sometimes they are demanding to remove people from jobs and other times they are ready to take away rights of the OBCs. I assure you no one will lose their jobs and to establish the rights of the OBCs we are fighting in the Supreme Court,” she remarked. She made it clear that the party was not going to spare any one against whom complaints are lodged. “Work sincerely for the people. Trinamul Congress is a platform to serve the people,” she said. Miss Banerjee advised her party workers to work for the development of the minorities, OBC, SCs and STs. She said the state government has spent Rs 7,000 crore on Lakshmir Bhandar and other schemes. For Swasthya Sathi, the state government is spending Rs 10,000 crore. She said the beneficiaries of Aawas Plus scheme will get their first instalment by 31 December to set up their houses.

She urged party leaders to fight against the communal forces. “ We will not compromise on the issues of corruption and communalism. We will root them out. The CPI-M had beaten me several times but could not stop me from raising their voice against injustice. I can still work more than most of my colleagues and continue to fight against corruption and communalism till I die,” she said. On the ongoing unrest in neighbouring Bangladesh, Miss Banerjee said that the state government would not hesitate to give shelter to those coming from there and seeking refuge in West Bengal. “I will not talk about what is going on in Bangladesh. It is the Central government’s job to talk about the issue. But if anyone knocks on our door for shelter, we will not hesitate to give them refuge,” Miss Banerjee said. Writer Abul Basar, painter Suvaprasanna, singer Nachiketa and film director Haranath Chakraborty were present on the podium. Trinamul Congress leaders garlanded the martyrs’ column before the meeting started.