State machinery deployed to show TMC strength

Message lost in medium

OUR BUREAU (courtesy: The Telegraph)

A bevy of invisible Trinamul leaders made their presence felt at Monday afternoon’s rally in the heart of Calcutta, marshalling their troops from behind the scenes in a show of might meant to counter Saturday’s march for Jadavpur University. Many in the crowd of Trinamul supporters who walked from the Academy of Fine Arts till the Gandhi statue on the Maidan didn’t know why they were there but it didn’t seem to matter, just as it doesn’t at political rallies that bring the party faithful atop buses, trucks and vans. A group of 18 students from Jagannath Sri Bidya Niketan in Contai, 107km from Calcutta, was among the clueless faces at the rally. They had been allegedly herded into a Matador the moment they reached school in the morning. “Our teachers only told us that we would be taken to Calcutta for the day,” said a boy in blue trousers and white shirt, the school uniform. A teenaged girl from Polerhat High School in Bhangar, Trinamul strongman Arabul Islam’s turf, said she didn’t know what she was on the Maidan and not in her classroom. “I cycled for more than 30 minutes to reach school. Then two dadas and one of our teachers came to our classroom and said we would have to immediately leave for a rally in Calcutta.” Students of Bhangar Mahavidyalaya, for long Arabul’s fief, said about 70 buses and vans had been arranged to ferry them to and from the rally venue. Around 100 buses, cars and vans stood on Queensway, the road in front of Victoria Memorial, in violation of a high court ban on parking in the vicinity of the monument. Sources said youth affairs minister Aroop Biswas and urban development minister Firhad Hakim too played a role in mobilising people for the rally. “Mamata Banerjee had entrusted her nephew Abhishek Banerjee with the responsibility of making the rally successful. Aroop and Bobby (Firhad Hakim) mobilised people with Arabul’s help to ensure a large enough gathering,” a Trinamul leader said. Swapan Banerjee, chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s younger brother, and Sushanta Ghosh, member of the mayoral council, were among the few known faces in the crowd. The official purpose of the rally was to “seek justice” for the student who had been allegedly molested at Jadavpur University on August 28, triggering a chain of events that culminated in the alleged police action on the campus a week ago. “The plan was to use the organisational network of the Trinamul Chhatra Parishad, Trinamul Youth Congress and Trinamul Yuva to bring students, teachers and non-teaching staff of colleges and universities to the rally,” a source in the party said. The source said Abhishek, a first-time MP and national president of Trinamul Yuva, decided to skip the rally because he wasn’t happy with a turnout of around 12,000. Minister Aroop Biswas monitored the gathering from Nandan while colleague Firhad Hakim was stationed somewhere along Theatre Road. “Aroopda was giving instructions to some youths from his area over the phone…. He seemed nervous to hear that the gathering was thin even half an hour before the scheduled start of the march. Arabul brought a smile to his face when he arrived with around 5,000 people,” a Trinamul insider said. The motley crowd at the rally included homemakers, auto drivers and even members of syndicates active in the New Town construction belt. “It wasn’t possible to get a large crowd of college students from the nearby areas, particularly when the majority of them seem to be supporting the JU students…. We had little option but to pick whoever we could find to make up the numbers,” the Trinamul insider said. Rubi Ghorai, a homemaker from Baguiati, said: “We are associated with the local Trinamul unit. We were told last evening to join the rally; that’s why I have come.” See More : Mamta ordered a rally against Students Protest March