A planned Kolkata protest march by the Trinamool Congress was stopped by police and central forces on Tuesday after barricades were erected in the Rajabazar area, with organisers continuing their demonstration through an on-the-spot meeting instead.
The march was scheduled to travel from Rajabazar to Park Circus. Protesters were demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over allegations of electoral irregularities and concerns related to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
The demonstration was also organised in protest against the detention of former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee by Delhi Police during a demonstration in the national capital. Banerjee, who had been associated with the wider political campaign, did not attend the Kolkata rally.
As the march began on Tuesday afternoon, a large contingent of police personnel and central forces blocked the planned route at Rajabazar. The deployment followed a warning by West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari that disorder would not be tolerated in the state during Durga Puja and that central forces could be deployed if necessary.
With protesters prevented from proceeding towards Park Circus, leaders Kunal Ghosh, Dola Sen and Shovandev Chattopadhyay addressed supporters at the location. The halted march was converted into a meeting, allowing the organisers to continue raising their political demands without moving along the proposed route.
Ghosh accused the state government and the Centre of creating an atmosphere of fear through the deployment of security personnel and warnings issued ahead of the rally. He said the restrictions had not provoked the protesters and that the demonstration had achieved its intended political purpose. He also questioned objections to slogans directed at the Chief Election Commissioner.
Sen alleged that meetings and rallies organised by her party had repeatedly been denied permission over the past five months, forcing the party to approach the courts. She criticised the deployment of central forces during a demonstration involving students and young people. These allegations were made by the protest leaders at the meeting and were not independently established in the report.
The confrontation brings public-order restrictions and political assembly into the street-level functioning of central Kolkata, where route blockades and security deployments can affect movement through densely used neighbourhoods. The report did not provide details of arrests, injuries, traffic diversions or the duration of the security deployment.
The protest comes amid continuing opposition to the Special Intensive Revision exercise and demands for Kumar’s resignation. The organisers’ next formal programme or any further police or administrative action was not specified in the report.
