The Congress has announced a counter-rally in Murshidabad’s Palashi on 21 July, same day the ruling Trinamul Congress (TMC) is scheduled to hold its annual Martyrs’ Day rally in Kolkata, and the BJP has called for a protest march to Uttarkanya in north Bengal.
Former West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee chief and senior MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury made the announcement on Friday, saying the Murshidabad District Youth Congress will organise a protest meeting demanding justice for Tamanna and Abhaya — two young victims of post-election violence allegedly involving TMC workers. “We are holding a rally at the historic plains of Plassey to seek justice for little Tamanna, who died in a bomb attack in Kaliganj after the elections, and our sister Abhaya. We consider them martyrs,” Chowdhury said at a Press briefing at the Congress office in Berhampore.
Although the programme is being held under the banner of the district youth wing, Chowdhury claimed the organisers have already applied for police permission, similar to the BJP, whose rally in north Bengal was recently cleared by the Calcutta High Court. The announcement adds a third major political event to 21 July— a date charged with political symbolism in West Bengal. While TMC commemorates the 1993 police firing in Kolkata that killed 13 Youth Congress workers, the day has also become a battleground for political messaging.
Referring to the high court’s recent directive asking Kolkata Police to ensure that the TMC rally does not disrupt normal life in the city, Chowdhury remarked, “The decision of the high court is absolutely right. Why should ordinary people suffer for what has become a picnic and pleasure trip in the name of Martyrs’ Day?” He also criticised chief minister Mamata Banerjee for allegedly rewarding police officers responsible for the 1993 firing, while remaining silent on investigating the incident. “The state government is quiet on who ordered the firing and who was responsible,” he said. Chowdhury’s statements and the Congress’s Plassey event add further tension to an already politically charged day in West Bengal, as all three major parties seek to dominate the narrative.