Sea of people at Esplanade
The Statesman | 22 July 2024Trinamul 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
