Martyrs Day rally: Trinamool Congress gears as much as sharpen Bengali satisfaction narrative amid migrant row

With a watch on Assembly polls subsequent yr in West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) is gearing as much as flip its annual Martyrs’ Day rally into a robust platform to sharpen its Bengali satisfaction narrative and hit out on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking migrants in saffron-ruled States.

Set in opposition to the backdrop of rising tensions over the linguistic profiling and remedy of Bengali migrant employees in BJP-governed States comparable to Assam, Odisha, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Delhi, the July 21 rally in Kolkata’s Esplanade is anticipated to see Trinamool Congress supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee situation a clarion name to her occasion employees, reiterating her message that “Bengalis are not second-class citizens in their own country.”

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“Time and again, poor Bengali-speaking workers are being picked up, harassed, and branded as illegal infiltrators. The BJP is criminalising poverty and weaponising identity to harass the marginalised,” a senior TMC chief informed PTI.

In latest weeks, a political storm has been brewing in West Bengal, with Ms. Banerjee alleging that Bengali-speaking migrants are being detained, focused, and subjected to linguistic profiling within the identify of nationwide safety. “Being born a Bengali has become a crime in BJP States. They think every Bengali is from Bangladesh. We won’t tolerate this insult,” Ms. Banerjee thundered at a latest public assembly.

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The TMC has accused the BJP of resorting to “linguistic othering” and has sought to reignite the emotional chord of regional id that helped it counter the BJP’s Hindutva wave throughout the 2021 Assembly polls. “Dignity, identity, and survival are at stake. BJP is out to erase Bengali self-respect under the garb of nationalism. Our fight is not just electoral-it’s existential,” a TMC MP stated.

The BJP, then again, has pushed again strongly. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, throughout his latest rally in Durgapur, accused the TMC of selling infiltration and endangering nationwide safety for vote-bank politics. “It is the BJP that truly protects Bengali ‘ashmita‘,” Mr. Modi had stated, as he projected the BJP as the one credible various in Bengal.

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Responding to the TMC’s allegations over migrant harassment, BJP leaders have claimed that the confusion stems from the TMC’s failure to streamline citizenship and voter documentation. “They are blaming others to hide their incompetence,” stated a Bengal BJP chief.

The Martyrs’ Day rally, noticed yearly on July 21, commemorates the killing of 13 youth activists in police firing in 1993 when Mamata Banerjee, then a fiery Youth Congress chief, led a march to the State Secretariat demanding that voter ID playing cards be made the only real doc for franchise. Over the years, the rally has morphed into the largest present of political power by the TMC, usually setting the tone for upcoming battles.

This yr’s rally, occasion insiders say, will probably be a launch pad for a high-voltage marketing campaign main as much as the 2026 Assembly polls, the place the TMC plans to weaponise each Bengali satisfaction and the perceived humiliation of its folks throughout State borders.

“We gave them ‘poriborton‘ (change) in 2011. Now, we will give them ‘protibad‘ (resistance),” stated a younger TMC MLA, hinting at a fiery speech by Ms. Banerjee that can mix emotional attraction with sharp political messaging.

Security has been beefed up for Monday’s rally, with hundreds of supporters already streaming into the town from throughout the State. Ms. Banerjee, identified for her emotive oratory, is anticipated to take direct purpose on the BJP’s “double standards” — questioning how the identical occasion that talks of Bengali satisfaction in Bengal is accused of humiliating Bengalis elsewhere.

With lakhs of supporters anticipated to pour into Kolkata from each nook of the State — some on overcrowded native trains, others by vehicles draped in TMC flags — the town is already witnessing a carnival-like build-up.

Tea stalls and dhabas in Esplanade and Sealdah are abuzz with slogans comparable to “Khela Hobe, abar hobe” and “Banglar keu Bangladeshi noy” (No Bengali from Bengal is a Bangladeshi).

As a celebration strategist put it, “From 1993 to 2025, this rally is greater than a tribute. It is Mamata Banerjee’s declaration of battle in opposition to injustice, in opposition to humiliation, and for the soul of Bengal. With the 2026 Assembly showdown on the horizon and a resurgent BJP sharpening its knives, the July 21 rally is poised to be greater than only a commemoration — it is a political bugle name.

In a State the place id runs deep and reminiscence lingers lengthy, the rally guarantees to redraw the battle strains of energy, satisfaction, and notion.

In the grand political theatre that lies forward, July 21 might effectively be TMC’s opening act — with Mamata Banerjee forged as soon as once more because the combative protagonist, and ‘Bengali asmita‘ as each protect and sword.