KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday directed that the West Bengal government's Health and Family Welfare department guidelines be followed while holding the Martyrs' Day rally by the ruling Trinamool Congress party.
Claiming that around 15 to 20 lakh people are going to attend the rally at Esplanade in Kolkata on July 21, amid rising cases of COVID-19 in the state, a prayer was made before the court in a PIL to direct the state to take adequate measures and enforce rules to conduct the programme virtually or to follow a strict and proper guideline for it.
Advocate General S N Mookherjee, appearing for the state, informed the division bench presided by Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava that the Health and Family Welfare department of the state has issued a guideline for holding the rally and those wanting to attend it.
The advisory said that only asymptomatic and fully vaccinated people should preferably attend public gatherings following COVID-appropriate behaviour.
The bench, also comprising Justice R Bharadwaj, directed the authorities concerned to ensure that the guidelines are followed while holding the public gathering on July 21 on the occasion of Martyrs' Day ny the TMC.
Disposing of the PIL, the court also directed the state authorities to take all possible steps to ensure that such a gathering may not lead to the spread of COVID in the state and that the rally is held in a peaceful atmosphere.
A total of 4,500 police personnel will be deployed across the city, of whom 3,500 will be at the venue in the heart of the city.
Additional CCTVs have been installed there, a senior officer said.
Around 30 deputy commissioner-rank officers, 70 assistant commissioner-rank officers and 150 inspectors will be at the venue.
Apart from that, 750 other police officers will be deployed in other parts of the eastern metropolis.
A tab will be kept on the movement of rally attendees towards the venue, and policemen in plainclothes will be posted at different entry points to the city, he said.
Twelve heavy radio flying squads will be deployed, and an adequate number of PCR vans will patrol the city streets on Wednesday night.
Many people will reach Kolkata by crossing Hooghly River.
Special DMG boats and divers will be deployed for their safety, he added.
TMC observes Martyrs' Day on July 21 every year to commemorate the killing of 13 people in police firing on a Youth Congress rally against the then Left Front government in 1993 when Banerjee was the YC state president.
She continues to observe the day even after forming the Trinamool Congress in 1998 and coming to power in West Bengal in 2011.
West Bengal BJP called off its public meeting in Howrah's Uluberia, scheduled to be held on Thursday, citing its inability to hold a successful rally in view of the Calcutta High Court's conditions.
The saffron party has decided to hold the event at a later date, which is yet to be decided.
Calcutta High Court on Wednesday granted conditional permission to BJP to hold the rally on the same day the TMC will hold its massive Martyrs' Day rally in Kolkata.
Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya said the meeting can be held from 8 PM to 10 PM, and BJP has to ensure that law and order is maintained and that no speaker issues any provocative statements.
Also, the saffron party must ensure that NH 16 is not obstructed due to the rally.
"With the conditions, it won't be possible to hold a rally properly. So, we have decided to cancel it as of now," Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari told reporters.
The ruling TMC is scheduled to hold a massive rally on its Martyrs' Day on July 21, with several lakhs of people likely to attend the programme, which will be addressed by party chief Mamata Banerjee.
TMC leadership said BJP's rally was intended to grab media attention.
"BJP has lost political relevance in West Bengal. Its plan to hold the rally was an attempt to get some media attention," TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said.
Banerjee said that its Martyrs' Day rally will be against the Centre's "authoritarian rule".
The party plans to make its annual rally, being held after a gap of two years due to COVID-19 pandemic, a grand success.
TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee claimed that around 20 lakh people will attend the event.
TMC observes Martyrs' Day on July 21 every year to commemorate the killing of 13 people in police firing on a Youth Congress rally against the then Left Front government in 1993 when Banerjee was the YC state president.
She continues to observe the day even after forming the Trinamool Congress in 1998 and coming to power in West Bengal in 2011.