Mamata’s Oppn Rally: What Happened & What the People Have To Say

“The BJP doesn’t need to worry about who’ll be the Opposition’s PM face,” thundered Mamata Banerjee.

Here’s what went down at the mega Opposition unity rally hosted by Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress.

(Photo: Aroop Mishra/The Quint)

Saturday, 19 January, was crazy day for Kolkata as lakhs of people poured into the city, all heading to the Brigade Parade Grounds.

The Brigade Parade Grounds, or ‘Brigade’, as it is popularly called in the city, has witnessed many political upheavals. This Saturday was no different, as was evident from the posters of the ‘Mega Opposition Unity Rally’ that dotted the city.

Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee had managed to gather leaders of more than 22 parties from across the country at this mega meeting. The excitement was palpable among the Trinamool leaders as well as the lakhs of supporters who’d turned up from across Bengal.

As far as attendance goes, the event was a resounding success. From chief ministers like HD Kumaraswamy and Arvind Kejriwal to former PMs like HD Devegowda, everyone was present. Add to that Akhilesh Yadav and Tejaswi Yadav, and representatives from the Congress – Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Mallikarjun Kharge – and a galaxy of other big leaders.

Security was tight with drones, CCTVs, et al.

The leaders heaped praise on Banerjee. A range of issues, like the NRC, Citizenship Amendment Bill, farm loans and GST, were brought up. Some even went on to state that ‘Didi’ was the best leader to lead the country in 2019.

However, when Mamata finally addressed the crowd, in her speech, she made one thing clear – the unity of the Opposition is not about the PM face.

“They say we don’t have a leader. Look at this stage. Look at the number of senior leaders present. Get the BJP out and we’ll decide who’s best fit among us to run the country. PM Modi doesn’t need to worry about that”, she thundered.

The crowd, though, could not get the idea of ‘PM Mamata’ out of their heads. Shouting slogans of ‘Du-hajar-unish (2019), BJP vanish’, almost everybody The Quint spoke to said that Mamata ‘Didi’ was, and should be, the PM face for 2019.

“It’ll be great. It’ll once again be like the time when Bengal led the rest of the country”, one guy quipped.