Among the tens of thousands who converged at Esplanade on Friday were a group of friends from a village in Purulia. For them, attendance at the July 21 rally of the Trinamul Congress has been a ritual since 2004.
Over the years, the group has remained the same. Seven friends.
One of them on Friday said that they "had not thought of this before", but the group is made of three Hindus and four Muslims. They eat the same food, they share the same celebrations and have never identified themselves by their religion.
The seven came in one car. One of them drove.
At a time when one community cheers the use of bulldozers to demolish homes of people from the another community or assumes the role of vigilantes, the seven friends, and what they said, stood out.
"We never thought of ourselves as Hindus or Muslims. We have grown up together, we are close friends back in our village. Besides, we are also Trinamul workers," said Quddus Ansari.
"I know that in India, our identity as Muslim or Hindu is becoming more and more important. But we do not see ourselves as Muslims or Hindus. We are friends."
His friend Narayan Rajak said they do not hesitate to eat from each other's plates. "There are many who will not eat from the plate of a person of another faith, but we have always shared our food and the plate," said Rajak.
Some of the men earn their livelihood by working in the fields. One of them owns a grocery. There are others who work as contractual workers in the Santaldih Thermal Power Station in Purulia.
The group set out from their village, Deuli, early on Friday and arrived in Calcutta around 11am. The roads leading to the rally venue were yet to be choked.
While two of them made their way to the rally site in front of Victoria House, the others sat on the edge of the footpath at a distance. They bought caps bearing the Trinamul logo.
Deuli, the village in Purulia from where the friends came, has a mixed population, said Ashwini Mahato, Trinamul's Deuli anchal president and another member of the group. "Hindus and Muslims have lived peacefully together for years. We celebrate our festivals together and also stand by each other in grief," said Mahato.
Coming to Calcutta on July 21 holds a special place in their hearts, the men said. "We come here to see Didi. It is an emotion," said Tajuddin Ansari. "She is among the few leaders who had doggedly defended Hindu-Muslim friendship. We are one of the states where there is still no enmity between the two communities and this has been possible because of her," said Tajuddin.
Woman power
Many of the women who attended the rally said they feel women have a fair share of opportunity in the party as it is led by a woman. Satarupa Adya, a party worker from Bankura, said crimes against women are taken seriously in Bengal, more so because of the chief minister.
"We have seen what happened in Manipur and how the government there has remained silent for so many days," she said.