The 17 Left parties’ rally at Kolkata’s Brigade Parade Grounds on Sunday was a call to remove the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from the Centre and the Trinamool Congress from West Bengal.
The surprise element at the rally was the presence of former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, though he did not sit on the dais nor delivered a speech. He was more of a listener whose moral support and presence counted for the thousands of Left supporters who attended the meeting and for the Left leaders who are trying their best to make a lasting impact in the minds of the people.
Bhattacharjee, who suffers from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and has vision difficulties, hasn’t been active for several months now and his attending the Brigade meeting was initially ruled out. But Bhattacharjee himself wanted to be present, because there has never been a Left rally at this historic venue that he has not attended. And undoubtedly, people were happy to know he was there, for he has been one of the most popular Left leaders in recent times.
Youth leader Kanhaiya Kumar, who was one of the star attractions for today’s rally, had to skip the programme because of a neck spasm. He had been hospitalised for a while, but even if back home, he is unable to move due to the pain. It was a huge disappointment for the rally because Kanhaiya Kumar, a brilliant speaker in his own right, was to be a main draw for the young audience today.
The top leaders of the CPI(M) — Sitaram Yechury, Surjya Kanta Mishra, Mohd Salim — made all-out attacks on the BJP and the Trinamool Congress, stressing on the need to doing away with both in order to bring about peace and prosperity for the nation and its poor. Yechury said that the country’s chowkidar (security guard) – a reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a word that the PM loves to use for himself – had to be changed because he was promising dreams that were never realised, and because he was unable to protect the country and its people.
The Left leaders also presented the grim picture of the country’s employment situation, farmers’ suicide, and what the impact of demonetisation and implementation of the GST had done to the country’s economy.
CPI(M) leader Debalina Hembrom was introduced as a speaker in today’s Brigade rally for the first time – a strategy adopted by the party to highlight its representation of women and tribal leadership.
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