HC grants conditional nod to Trinamool for July 21 Martyrs' Day rally, caps gathering at 2,500

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday gave conditional permission to Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool to observe Martyrs' Day rally on July 21 at the Birla Planetarium area in Kolkata. Although the party had sought place for 20,000 people, the court allowed an assembly of 2,500 people, said Kalyan Bandopadhyay, Trinamool MP and advocate, who fought the case for Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday.

Martyr's Day commemoration has reached a flashpoint between the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool and Ritabrata Banerjee's dissident Trinamool with both seeking the Victoria House location in Esplanade to hold the function. Martyrs' Day was celebrated in a big way by the Trinamool Congress till last year and the entire city used to come to a standstill due to the crowd.

The HC said Martyrs' Day has to be observed within a stipulated time (12.30 pm to 2.30 pm) by Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool and said they cannot block the entire road. Justice Sougata Bhattacharya said judges had a bad experience on July 21 every year as court functioning was almost brought to be standstill as the roads were blocked.


Meanwhile, Ritabrata Banerjee-led TMC has received HC's permission to organise Martyrs' Day near Gandhi Statue. Congress has reviewed the preparations for the Martyrs' Day at Shahid Minar in Esplanade. Mamata Banerjee was in the Congress when the July 21,1993 incident happened and many protestors died.

In a Facebook Live, Mamata Banerjee invited her party workers for "Shahid tarpan" (paying respect to martyrs) at Birla Planetarium.

Dissident MLA Madan Mitra, taking a dig, said, "The High Court has saved Trinamool's respect by giving them space at Birla Planetarium and limiting the number to 2,500. Even visitors near Victoria Memorial and peanut sellers would make the number." Mitra meant that it would have been difficult for the Trinamool led by Mamata Banerjee if the numbers were more than 2,500 supporters.

Blaming Abhishek, Mamata 'Loyalist' Madan Mitra Joins Rebels

In another major development and jolt to the Trinamool Congress, Kamarhati MLA Madan Mitra, a loyalist of Mamata Banerjee, resigned from all party posts on Wednesday and joined the Trinamool dissident faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee. Asserting that she could fight alone, the former chief minister said, "Those leaving are free to leave the party," while maintaining that "Abhishek is being used as an excuse."

Mitra's departure comes a day after his two sons and wife were summoned by the Enforcement Directorate for questioning next week. However, he claimed that AB (Abhishek Banerjee) was scarier than the ED. "I was more scared of AB than ED. ED will at least listen to us, but AB would have thrown me out. I was in jail for 27 months, but I did not utter a word against my party," Mitra said when asked whether he had left out of fear of ED.