On Sunday, the entire area surrounding Esplanade was filled by a sea of people as lakhs of Trinamul Congress from the city and districts came to attend the Martyr’s Day rally. Trinamul Congres observes Martyrs’ Day on 21 July every year to commemorate the death of 13 Youth Congress supporters who were killed in police firing on 21 July 1993. Mamata Banerjee who was the then Youth Congress president had organised a programme called a ‘March to Writers’ Buildings’ to demand voters ID card should be made mandatory for elections. The slogan was No card No vote. The police opened fire, killing 13 youths. Martyrs’ Column were set up across the state including the one set up in front of the main podium at Esplanade.
Trinamul Congress leaders including Abhishek Banerjee, party’s national general secretary, Subrata Bakshi, party’s state president and Rajya Sabha MP and Firhad Hakim mayor garlanded the Martyrs Column to pay homage to those killed in the 1993 firing incident. Two huge processions were taken out from Sealdah and Howrah stations and south and north Kolkata. Party workers from distant districts like Cooch Behar, Alipurduar had come to attend the rally. Thousands of people came by train and bus to the venue. The party workers who came from the districts were put up at different places like Central Park in Salt Lake and Rajdanga stadium in Kasba. Senior party leaders like Indranil Sen, Firhad Hakim , Arrop Biswas looked after their hospitality. There was heavy intermittent showers during the rally particularly at the time when party’s chairperson Mamata Banerjee was addressing the gathering. She carried on with the speech after being drenched to the skin. Not a single party supporter left the space. Those who had umbrellas opened them and those who did not have umbrella or rain coat were drenched. Noting this, Miss Banerjee expressed her confidence in the party workers.
“This can happen only with the supporters of Trinamul Congress. They will stand by the party braving all odds,” she said. After the meeting was over, the party workers from the districts who had come by train were taken to Howrah and Sealdah stations. Buses were made available for them from Sealdah for those who took train from the Kolkata railway station. Traffic along Chittaranjan Avenue was restored within an hour after the meeting ended at 3 p.m. The workers of Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s Conservancy department removed plastic and empty water bottles from the street and by 4.30 p.m. life had become normal and any one visiting the area then would never imagine that lakhs of people had gathered on the street just two hours ago. Trinamul Congress’s organisation has become phenomenal as the whole thing from dispersal of the workers to the dismantling of the stage was done with impeccable efficiency