On Sunday, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) will mark its July 21 Shaheed Diwas rally in Kolkata's Dharmatala area. This is the biggest political event in the TMC’s annual calendar, with the party using the rally to outline its plans and strategy. This year’s rally after the TMC’s resounding victory in the Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal, which was followed by a sweep in the Assembly bypolls. The rally will see the first public address by party chairperson and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee after the poll triumphs. Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav is also expected to address the rally, while some representatives of Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) may also attend the event. Mamata’s speech will be closely watched for its messaging and symbolism for Bengal politics as well as the larger Opposition. Said a TMC leader, “After the rally, Mamata Banerjee, Abhishek Banerjee, and Akhilesh Yadav may hold a meeting on the Opposition’s strategy for the Budget Session of Parliament (which begins on Monday).” In context: On July 21, 1993, the state Youth Congress, then led by Banerjee, organised a “Writers' Abhijaan (March to the state secretariat, Writers’ Building)”, demanding that the voter ID be made the sole document required for voting. At the time, people could use ration cards as identity proof for voting. The Congress raised this demand to put an end to alleged false voting by the Left. The plan that day was for Congress workers to lay siege to the state secretariat. Then CM Jyoti Basu had already announced that he would not allow the state secretariat to be taken over by the protesters. When the police stopped one of the processions, a scuffle ensued and a few people started throwing stones. The police resorted to lathi-charge and subsequently opened fire, killing 13 Congress workers. The day has since been marked by the TMC as Shaheed Diwas. Over the years, important leaders of other parties have also joined the TMC on the Shaheed Diwas stage. For example, in 2008, the TMC, riding the success of the Singur and Nandigram movements, gained a huge boost when Congress leader and Banerjee’s arch-rival Somen Mitra joined the party. BJP convention in Pune The BJP will hold a day-long convention for its Maharashtra unit in Pune on Sunday. The Union Minister for Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, is expected to address the inaugural session, while Union Home Minister Amit Shah will speak the second session. This comes ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly polls scheduled for later this year. Speaking to reporters, Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said Saturday that electing the opposition’s Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance, which comprises the Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and NCP (SP), would not be in the interest of the state. "If the MVA returns to power, it will stop the Ladki Bahin Yojana (under which women will get Rs 1,500 per month subject to certain conditions), the free distribution of three LPG cylinders, free electricity for farmers, crop insurance at one rupee and free rations being given by the Modi government," Bawankule claimed. In context: This meeting will be crucial in terms of deciding the contours of the ruling Mahayuti alliance comprising of the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP as it comes days after a Sangh-linked Marathi weekly stated that the “workers of the BJP have not liked joining hands with the NCP”. At a recent BJP day core committee meeting, the party underlined that it would fight the coming Assembly elections as a part of the Mahayuti alliance but as its leader. The reiteration was significant given that the coming seat-sharing talks are expected to see jostling by all three parties of the alliance, including the Shiv Sena and NCP, for as many seats as possible. As per sources, the Sena could start from an initial demand of 100-plus seats, the NCP 90 seats, and the BJP 150-plus. With the total Assembly seats 288, every party will have to ultimately climb down to accommodate the others, BJP leaders admitted. All-party meeting for Budget After the inaugural session of the 18th Lok Sabha last month, which saw a resurgent Opposition, parties are preparing for the Budget session scheduled for July 23. The customary all-party meeting before a Parliament session will be held on Sunday during which the Opposition will list the topics it wants to discuss in the session and also bring up the issue of the election of Deputy Speaker. Though the Budget, to be presented on Tuesday, will be the focus of the three-week-long session that is scheduled to conclude on August 12, sources said the Congress-led Opposition would prefer to use the floor of the House to discuss unemployment and rural distress too. The continuing crisis in Manipur, the issue that triggered vociferous protests in the first session, is also likely to have an echo in the coming Session, they added. Days after visiting the violence-hit state on July 8, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi had said that the Congress and the INDIA alliance would raise the need for peace in Manipur “with full force in Parliament” to pressure the government. — With PTI inputs
