The Trinamool Congress has announced a Kolkata protest march against the Central government and the Election Commission, with the proposed route running from Rajabazar to Park Circus at 2pm on Tuesday, October 13. The programme could affect traffic on one of the city’s busiest corridors during the build-up to Durga Puja, although Kolkata Police has not yet confirmed whether permission will be granted.
The party has described the event as a large protest march and said it will raise several issues, including what it calls the suppression of democratic voices. Its campaign material also demands the resignation and arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, whom it refers to as a “vote thief”. The programme is additionally framed as a protest against the detention of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during a political programme in Delhi and what the party describes as repression of opposition parties and younger generations.
Mamata Banerjee may join the Kolkata march, according to the report. The party has asked workers from its student, youth, women’s and labour organisations to participate. Trinamool workers began campaigning for the event in different parts of the city on Monday, distributing information about the programme and mobilising supporters.
The proposed route passes through Rajabazar, along CIT Road and towards the Park Circus area. These roads already experience increased traffic ahead of Durga Puja, when shopping, pandal visits and other festival-related movement intensify across Kolkata. The report said the city has also begun seeing larger crowds as Puja inaugurations get under way.
That timing has created uncertainty over the administrative handling of the march. The programme is scheduled for the afternoon, when traffic demand is high, and a gathering involving a large number of participants could require diversions, additional police deployment and changes to the movement of buses, cars and other vehicles. Kolkata Police’s position on the proposed route and timing had not been made public in the supplied report.
The question of whether the march can proceed has also become politically significant. If permission is granted, the police may need to prepare a traffic-management plan for Rajabazar, CIT Road, Park Circus and adjoining stretches. If permission is denied or changes are required, the Trinamool Congress’s response will determine the next stage of the programme.
Trinamool leader and former Rajya Sabha member Subhashis Chakraborty said the march would take place and that Mamata Banerjee would attend it, while adding that he could not comment on whether the police would grant permission. “The police will give permission for the march or not, we do not know. We cannot say anything about that. But I can say this much: the protest march will happen. Our leader will be present in that march,” he said, according to the report.
BJP North Kolkata district president Tamoghna Ghosh dismissed the proposed programme, saying the Trinamool Congress had become irrelevant and that residents were not interested in its activities. The Trinamool Congress, meanwhile, has said the march is not opposed to the festival and is intended as a political and democratic protest against the Central government.
The immediate administrative decision now rests on Kolkata Police’s position on the proposed march, while the size of the gathering and the participation of Mamata Banerjee remain to be established.
