Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], June 30 (ANI): Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Kalyan Banerjee on Tuesday said his party would challenge in court the rejection of its application to hold the July 21 Martyrs’ Day (Shahid Diwas) event, terming the decision “undemocratic” and accusing the state government of attempting to suppress democratic protests.
Speaking to reporters, Banerjee said the party was discussing an alternative venue for the event but asserted that the programme would be held on July 21.
“The application we submitted for July 21 has been rejected. We are deliberating on our next course of action–where to hold the meeting–, but the date will be July 21st. We will challenge this in court; it is undemocratic. Such actions are impermissible,” Banerjee said.
Alleging that the government was trying to silence the Opposition, he said, “The current Chief Minister is afraid to listen to the Opposition. He wants to shut down all democratic protests and rallies. But we will fight back–both in the political arena and in the courts.”
Referring to the recently passed West Bengal Public Safety and Control of Anti-Social Activities Bill, Banerjee said, “Those who were anti-social have introduced an ‘anti-social’ bill. We will fight against this; we will not yield even an inch of ground.”
“No one has ever witnessed such an autocratic government. He (Chief Minister Suvendu) has chosen the path taken by Indira Gandhi and Siddhartha Shankar Ray. They do whatever is necessary to silence the opposition, and we will counter it. Don’t try to scare us with jail,” he added.
His remarks come amid a dispute between two factions of the TMC, with both groups approaching the police seeking permission to organise the annual Shahid Diwas rally at Victoria House in Kolkata’s Esplanade area on July 21.
Earlier, TMC MP Dola Sen, representing the Mamata Banerjee-led faction, said the party had been observing Shahid Diwas since 1994 in memory of the 13 party workers who lost their lives in 1993. She questioned the rival faction’s decision to organise a parallel event, saying it had neither received approval regarding the party’s name and symbol nor permission to proceed. Sen also said she had lodged a complaint with the Cyber Crime division at Lalbazar.
AITC has sought permission from the Kolkata Police Commissioner to organise the July 21 Shahid Diwas programme in front of Victoria House and requested approval for arrangements from July 19 to July 21, saying it wished to continue the longstanding tradition under the leadership of former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal Assembly on Monday passed the West Bengal Public Safety and Control of Anti-Social Activities Bill, 2026, with 176 members voting in favour and 41 against. The legislation, introduced along with the West Bengal Maintenance of Public Order (Amendment) Bill, 2026, grants the state administration enhanced powers to curb organised crime, “syndicate raj” and hooliganism.
Commenting on INDI bloc’s letter to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, Banerjee said the INDIA alliance had collectively decided to write to the Chief Justice of India.
“This was decided during the INDIA alliance meeting–that we would collectively send a letter to the Chief Justice. In the recent elections held in West Bengal, Haryana, Maharashtra, and Bihar, the BJP engaged in casting fake votes and vote theft; this was the conclusion reached by the INDIA alliance,” he said.
His remarks came after INDIA bloc parties, including the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), jointly wrote to the CJI expressing concerns over the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process and other election-related issues.
On recent egg-pelting incidents involving TMC leaders, Banerjee referred to observations made by the Calcutta High Court.
“The High Court stated that the law-and-order situation is currently poor and that these events are detrimental to West Bengal. The Court has directed the Director General (DG) to issue guidelines, stating that such acts are wrong and that the police must apprehend the perpetrators and register cases against them. Let us see what happens next,” he said.
His remarks come after TMC youth leader Soumitra Banerjee was attacked with eggs while being taken to court by police. Earlier, eggs were also thrown at TMC leader Kunal Ghosh outside former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s residence in Kolkata’s Kalighat area. (ANI)
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