Mamata Banerjee believes the streets will show the way to revive her party (Paath hi paathdekhabe). The TMC supremo declared, from her July 21 rally stage, that a rediscovery of her party will begin from the streets and with a reconnection to Bengal’s rural heart.
The massive turnout at the rally near the Birla Planetarium area far exceeded the Calcutta High Court’s 2,500 people cap, surpassing the numbers at her earlier public rallies against the ruling BJP, protesting the displacement of hawkers and a recent rape case. The crowd has grown from the 50–70 people who joined her hawker dharna last month to over 10,000 on Tuesday — still a fraction of the July 21, 2010 Brigade rally that clinched her 2011 electoral victory.
This time, Mamata is not only jogging the older voters’ memories but also reminding the newer generation that she is still the ‘street fighter’ who had dismantled 35 years of Left rule. She is gunning for new targets and is firmly aiming to dismantle the BJP from the state. Marxists and Communists are no longer part of her class enemy narrative.
“I invite the INDIA bloc partners in Bengal to come together and commit to BJP hatao (remove BJP),” she said, addressing the Congress and the Left Front. To the youth, she promised to restore democracy, justice and people’s rights.“If need be, I will personally go to Cockroach’s programme. Our supporters have been part of their movement from the start,” she added.
Yet while Mamata courts allies, defectors from her own party are gunning for her and nephew Abhishek Banerjee. Rebel leader and former confidante Madan Mitra gave her “30 days to drop her nephewand join us.” In response, Mamata and Abhishek have branded the 20 rebel MPs and 52 MLAs as “BJP’s pillows”—to be used and discarded once the BJP’s objective of finishing the TMC is achieved.
Mamata recalled founding the party with four loyalists –mastermind behind TMC Ajit Panja, Sudip Bandhopadhyay, Subrata Bakshi, and Shobhnadeb Chattopadhyay,with a handful of West Bengal Pradesh Congress defectors. “Today we are much stronger than when we started the party. The winds will turn again. The game is still on (Khela sesh noe, Khela abarhobe),” she said.
The strong Tuesday turnout at Mamata’s rally surprised rebel TMC leaders and the Congress,who were holding their rival Martyr’s Day rallies nearby. BJP leaders and rebels who had lately dismissed her as just a ‘Facebook Live leader’ were forced to reconsider.
Mamata is confident that she will win the fight for her party’s symbol. The relic that once tied her politics to the grassroots. If need be, she vows to take the fight to the Supreme Court.
New General Secretaries and Youth TMC workers have been promoted to fill the party positions left vacant by her rebels. Fuelled by this new energy, Mamata now aims to hit the roads in the districts. “She has taken over the helm of party affairs completely in her hands,” said a party worker, without mentioning Abhishek. Mamata’s TMC is likely to announce her road show schedule later this month.
”The defacement of Mamata’s posters and snapping power lines of the rally venue couldn’t deter the crowd,” claimed Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien. “People came on their own, with their own money, bringing puffed rice. No biryani packets were distributed. These are the backbone of TMC’s power, and she will show that once again.”
For now, Mamata’s political revival hinges on three planks: challenging the rebel camp, reclaiming her grassroots base, and aligning with national protests.
