Despite a crushing defeat in the West Bengal Assembly election and the desertion of key party loyalists, Trinamool Congress chairperson and former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday drew thousands of supporters at her annual Martyrs’ Day rally here where she gave a call for Opposition unity against the BJP.
The rally is held in memory of 13 Youth Congress workers who were killed in police firing on July 21, 1993, at a rally led by Ms. Banerjee (then with the Congress) during the Left Front regime.
Addressing a gathering at Cathedral Road outside Birla Planetarium, Ms. Banerjee appealed to all INDIA bloc constituents, including the Congress and the CPI(M), in Bengal to bury their differences and unite against the BJP. “I appeal to every political force in Bengal that is opposed to the BJP. Come together, unite, and prepare for the democratic struggle ahead. I have no objection if everyone stands together for this cause,” she said.
The Trinamool Congress chairperson also expressed support to the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming that he turned his car and drove away after a section of CJP protesters neared the Parliament complex on Monday. “You saw what happened in Delhi yesterday [Monday], an atrocity committed against students. I heard from Parliament that the PM turned his car and ran away,” she said. Ms. Banerjee said that she will go to Delhi and join the CJP protest if required.
While extending an olive branch to the other Opposition parties, the former West Bengal Chief Minister also drew a firm line against rebels within her own party, saying “traitors” would never be taken back. “I challenge the traitors to directly join the BJP and fight elections...Those thieves have gone to the BJP. I will never take them back,” Ms. Banerjee said.
Describing herself as the founder chairperson of the party, Ms. Banerjee said that nobody can snatch away the party symbol from her.
The former Chief Minister was joined by party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and senior party leaders Kalyan Banerjee, Sovandeb Chattopadhyay and Kunal Ghosh, among others.
The breakaway Trinamool group led by Ritabrata Banerjee held a Martyrs’ Day rally at Mayo Road in Kolkata. Rebel leaders Madan Mitra and Firhad Hakim also spoke at the gathering, particularly about how Ms. Banerjee had not revealed the report of the Justice Susanta Chatterjee Commission on the July 21, 1993 police firing. The report was made public by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari in the Assembly on Monday.
The rebels accused Ms. Banerjee of favouring Mr. Abhishek Banerjee over other leaders in the party and said that it led to the downfall of her party. “In her rally [Mamata Banerjee], the martyrs’ families used to sit in the background, and celebrities used to take centre stage. She should have remembered that these celebrities did not make her a leader,” Mr. Mitra said.
While the number of MLAs present at the venue was higher than those assembled on Cathedral Road, the crowd at the venue was significantly thinner than the gathering at Ms. Banerjee’s rally.
The rally organised by the Congress to observe the Martyrs’ Day was held at Shahid Minar Ground in Kolkata. Five-term Lok Sabha MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, West Bengal Pradesh Congress president Subhankar Sarkar, Congress leader Deepa Dasmunshi, and Lok Sabha MP Isha Khan Chowdhury were among those who addressed the rally. The Congress venue had some photos of Ms. Banerjee as a Youth Congress leader.
Mr. Chowdhury said the only Congress can fight the BJP. He alleged that in the past, the Mamata Banerjee government had not allowed the Congress to hold Martyrs’ Day rallies.
Published - July 21, 2026 04:19 pm IST