West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee leads a protest.
Credit: PTI file photo
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will lead a protest march in Kolkata on Wednesday over alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled states.
The march will begin at College Square around 1 pm and conclude at Dharmatala in the heart of the city.
Senior leaders of the party, including TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, will join the march.
With less than a year left for the assembly elections in West Bengal, the TMC is raising its pitch over what it alleges is a systematic pattern of linguistic profiling, unlawful detentions, and attempts to brand Bengali speakers as "illegal immigrants".
"This is not a routine political event," state minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said.
"This is a battle to defend Bengal's honour, language and identity. If someone calls a Bengali a Bangladeshi, we will not take it lying down," she said.
The TMC usually refrains from holding major public events in the run-up to its annual Shahid Dibas rally on July 21. But the series of recent incidents, including the detention of migrant workers in Odisha, eviction drives in Delhi, and a notice served to a farmer in Cooch Behar by a foreigners' tribunal in Assam, appears to have compelled the party to shift gears.
The protests over the issues also give a glimpse of the thrust of TMC's campaign for the assembly elections, which will be due mid-next year. The party seems to be betting heavily on rekindling the emotional connection with voters through a campaign that blends identity politics with grassroots mobilisation.
"Bengal will not bow its head," Bhattacharya said.
"This fight is not just about migrant workers. It is about our right to exist with dignity in our own country," she added.