Kolkata, June 17: Mamata Banerjee, the leader of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and former Chief Minister of West Bengal, led a protest march in central Kolkata on Wednesday. This march was in response to the recent eviction campaign against street vendors across the state. However, the turnout was disappointing, and the protest appeared lackluster.
Originally, a rally was planned to conclude the march from Esplanade to Subhash Mallik Square, but it was later canceled. After the march, Banerjee left without addressing the attendees.
Following the TMC’s significant defeat in the recent West Bengal Assembly elections, along with Banerjee’s personal electoral loss, she has scaled back her political activities. She has primarily communicated through video messages on social media.
Her last public event was a protest on June 2, following an attack on her nephew and TMC General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee in Sonarpur, South 24 Parganas.
During Wednesday’s protest march, only a few prominent party leaders attended, and there was a noticeable absence of party workers and supporters.
Political analysts suggest that the weak turnout may be attributed to a decline in Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee’s control over the party’s legislative and parliamentary factions.
Notably, several senior TMC leaders, who typically express loyalty to Mamata and Abhishek Banerjee, were also absent from the march.
In addition to the eviction campaign against street vendors, the protest highlighted alleged attacks on TMC workers in various parts of the state and the ongoing arrests of party leaders in purported false cases.
– D.S.C.
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