It was a day of rallies for Siliguri, as CPM, Trinamul and BJP held rallies on the issues of the day — the Hathras incident and new farm laws.
With this, Siliguri Assembly seat, seen as the most important constituency of the region because of the locational advantage, is back in focus.
While the CPM is desperate to retain the seat it had lost to Trinamul in 2011 but won in 2016, Trinamul is as keen to win it back from Trinamul. The BJP is desperate to keep its lead it had secured from this Assembly segment in the last year’s Lok Sabha polls.
Left leaders and workers at their respective rallies in Siliguri on Saturday.
The Left Front leaders, led by veteran Asok Bhattacharya, Siliguri MLA and immediate past mayor of the city, in the lead held a rally in the Siliguri Assembly area — his own seat. “We hit the streets in protest of the brutal incident at Hathras and against the Centre for the farm bill that we believe will spell doom for farmers,” Bhattacharya said.
District Trinamul also held a rally on the Hathras incident — where a Dalit girl, allegedly gang-raped died and was hastily cremated by the police.
The BJP took out a rally to support the farm laws, which was attended by Raju Banerjee and district leaders.