CM to make 5 stops, security along route & traffic top priority for cops
Times of India | 22 January 2024
KOLKATA: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee during her 4-km Sampriti Rally from Hazra to Park Circus - with representatives from all faiths and communities on Monday - is slated to make stops at five religious places. Cops on Sunday conducted sanitisation of the rally route and the stop-overs while preparing a detailed traffic management plan for the day.
On Monday, apart from the Sampriti Rally, there are 60-plus religious gatherings and rallies in the city.There will be deployment of around 4,000 cops with the focus on keeping traffic moving on the first day of the week.
The biggest rally will be led by CM Banerjee who will start from Hazra crossing at 3 pm. There will also be many Ram pujas by BJP and other organisers at multiple city points and a Left-backed rally in the afternoon.
Trinamool sources said Banerjee is scheduled to take a short scooter ride from Hazra Road to a gurdwara located in a narrow alley on Garcha First Lane after which she will continue to lead the rally during the rest of the journey.
"The rally will start with the CM offering prayers at Kalighat temple. She will then walk to Garcha where she will ride a scooter to a gurdwara and then return to join the rally. She will continue to walk along Ballygunge Phanri and Syed Amir Ali Avenue before stopping at Church of Christ the King at Park Circus Seven Point crossing before walking further to Rahmani Masjid and Bhole Shah Baba Mazar to offer chadar and flowers. She will then enter Park Circus Maidan and lead the public meeting," said a party senior, who has been coordinating the rally's route map, adding that the plans are subject to last-minute changes.
The party leader said they expected at least 1 lakh people at the Park Circus meeting where Banerjee will deliver her address at the venue.
"She is likely to reach here by 4.30 pm but since she would be stopping at multiple places, we guess she might get delayed. We have kept arrangements for enough lights so that the public address doesn't get hampered even if it gets dark," said another party senior in charge of the Park Circus Maidan meeting.
TOI drove through the route on Sunday to find banners of 'dharma jar jar utsav sobar' dotting the zones and Park Circus Maidan decked up with four hangars and seating arrangements for several thousand audience members. Party workers have been told not to shout political slogans or wave party flags. "The motto is to promote peace among all religions and faiths and walk on the path of progress," said mayor Firhad Hakim, who was at Park Circus Maidan to take stock of the preparations on Sunday afternoon.
(Inputs from Rohit
Khanna)
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