Mamata’s Trinamool gets nod for Martyrs’ day rally, but with change in venue

5 min readUpdated: Jul 15, 2026 08:42 PM IST

Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress July 21 Martyrs' Day rally in Kolkata last year. (Express Photo)

For the first time in 15 years, Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress will not be observing the July 21 Martyrs’ Day rally in front of the Victoria House at Esplanade. Instead, the Mamata-led faction will be holding the annual rally in front of the Birla Planetarium here, as ordered by the Calcutta High Court.

The new venue, a few kilometres away from the old one, was suggested by the Kalighat-TMC’s counsel after the court refused their initial prayer of conducting the rally at Esplanade, citing traffic chaos at the busy road.

On Tuesday, the single bench of Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya directed the Kolkata Police to permit the public meeting on one flank of the road in front of Birla Planetarium while ensuring that the other flank remains open for traffic.

The court said in its order, “Effort has to be made to restrict the number of participants within 3000. Police authorities are to depute an adequate number of police personnel to ensure that no untowards incidents take place.”

The Mamata-led faction will hold the annual rally in front of the Birla Planetarium here, as ordered by the Calcutta High Court. (Express photo by Partha Paul)

The court also ordered that the event should be held between 12 pm to 3.30 pm, adding that the petitioner shall share the details of 20 volunteers with the Joint Commissioner of Police (Headquarters) by 4 pm on July 18.

The proceedings

The Kalighat-TMC had approached the High Court alleging that despite applying for permission on June 27 to hold the ‘Shahid Divas’ rally at Victoria House, the police kept the application pending while granting permission to the Congress as well as the rebel TMC faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee for public meetings in the same vicinity.

Appearing for the Mamata camp, senior counsel Kalyan Banerjee submitted, “Section 163(2) has been imposed to restrict rallies, demonstration and sabhas. We challenge that as well. The main prayer is to seek permission for Shahid Divas.”

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He said the rebel TMC faction has been given permission for the event near Gandhi Statue, while the Congress near Shahid Minar, adding that the Mamata camp could alternatively hold it near Metro Channel, Esplanade.

The Court observed that there is a division bench order restricting such events there.

The court added, “Considering the changed scenario, post declaration of election result faction has been created in TMC, so change your venue. This is the main arterial road from North Kolkata leading to Esplanade, don’t block this road. Can you hold it in Hazra?”

Kalyan Banerjee said , “Earlier it was Victoria House… Dorina Crossing, Esplanade East, Red Road and Dharmatala places can also be considered.”

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Advocate General Surajit Nath Mitra opposed the request to hold the meeting near Victoria House, contending that two other organisations had already been granted permission for programmes in the area and that another gathering could create law and order concerns. The state suggested Wellington Square as an alternative venue, while also proposing Brigade Parade Ground if the expected crowd exceeded 10,000.

“Some distance has to be maintained between the other parties. A law and order situation may arise. There are schools, college and hospital near the Birla Planetarium. It can only accommodate 500-1,000 people. Subodh Mallick Square can be another option. It can accommodate 2,000 people.

If participation is more than 10,000, they can go to Brigade (Ground).”

The petitioner counsel insisted that they wanted to hold the event in the Esplanade area due to historical significance.

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“We have intimated them three times, but no response. People who have made intimation later, they have been given Gandhi Statue and Shahid Minar. They don’t have the intention to give permission. We will have 15,000 to 20,000 participants. No restrictions for other parties, and restrictions are there for me.”

The single bench also observed that the city used to come to a standstill during the July 21 parade in the previous years. Adding that even the Calcutta High Court could not function.

The court granted the Mamata camp to hold the rally near Birla Planetarium.

Significance of ‘Shahid Divas’

On July 21, 1993, Mamata Banerjee — the then president of Youth Congress — organised a ‘Writers’ Chalo’ protest march to the Writers’ Building, the seat of the then ruling Left government in West Bengal. The protesters sought photo voter ID cards to be made mandatory to prevent election rigging.

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The police opened fire on the protesters, resulting in the deaths of 13 Congress party workers. Since then, the Congress, and subsequently the Trinamool Congress under Mamata, has been marking July 21 as ‘Martyrs’ Day’ or ‘Shahid Divas’. It remains Mamata’s flagship political event, marking a huge annual gathering at the party rally in Esplanade.

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Tanusree Bose is a dedicated journalist reporting for The Indian Express from Kolkata. Her work focuses sharply on the complex administrative, political, and judicial developments across West Bengal, establishing her as an authoritative voice in regional news coverage.

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