Kolkata: Mamata Banerjee leads rally over targeting of Bengali migrants

Ahead of the march, security was beefed up in the area with about 1,500 police personnel guarding the streets

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday afternoon hit the streets of Kolkata to lead a massive protest march over alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking people in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states.

She was joined by other leaders of her party including Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee among others as she led thousands of people in the march, which started from College Square in central Kolkata around 1.45 pm.

The march will terminate at Dorina Crossing in Dharmatala.

Ahead of the march, security was beefed up in the area with about 1,500 police personnel guarding the streets. Directions were also issued for traffic movements keeping the rally in mind.

The protests are being held a day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled visit to the state.

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".

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 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.