Abhishek Banerjee to hold rally on rival turf
Kolkata: Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee will address a public meeting at College Ground in Contai in East Midnapore on Saturday.
Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, BJP MLA from Nandigram had moved the High Court requesting it not to allow the meeting to be held at the ground. However, the High Court rejected his appeal and the meeting would be held as per schedule at noon.
Soumen Mahapatra, Trinamool Congress' East Midnapore district president, said: "There has been overwhelming support from the people who are eagerly waiting to hear from Abhishek Banerjee."
This will be his first meeting in Contai after Trinamool Congress came to power for the third time in Bengal in 2021. Meetings and street corner gatherings have been held in the district for the past seven days requesting people to attend it. "We are afraid about accommodating all of them at the venue. Rallies will be taken out in the morning and they will converge at the site," Mahapatra said.
Contai was the fiefdom of Sisir Adhikari, the chairman of Contai Municipality for many years during the Left Front regime. Like Sisir, his son Dibyendu had joined the BJP but hasn't resigned from Trinamool yet. His other son Soumendu and daughter-in-law were chairman and councillor of Contai Municipality.
However, after the 2021 Assembly elections, the popularity of BJP in Contai has gone down and there is massive erosion in the vote bank of the saffron party. Hundreds of BJP workers have joined Trinamool Congress in the past six months.
With this background, Abhishek will address the rally on Saturday at a time when the Panchayat election is just a few months away. Abhishek has already said leaders with clear images will be given tickets in the Panchayat elections and no violence will be tolerated. What he says on Saturday is politically very significant, feel experts.
Senior police officers of the district visited the venue along with local leaders to oversee the security arrangements.
