Around 2,500 people, including women and those from the tribal community took part in a rally on Thursday called by the CPM in Bolpur’s Shimulia and nearby villages against Wednesday’s clash between the BJP and the Trinamul.

CPM leaders claimed the rally had been called as a part of the countrywide strike, but in Shimulia it turned to be a peace rally against the recurring violence in the region.

CPM leaders said the clash between Trinamul and BJP workers had angered people so much that they came out in large numbers to join the rally.

Armed clashes had rocked Shimulia and its adjacent village on Wednesday when allegedly Trinamul-backed goons tried to stop BJP supporters from attending the rally of the party’s state chief Dilip Ghosh in Suri. A BJP supporter was injured in the clash and police had to fire teargas shells to disperse the warring rivals. Several vehicles were damaged as well.

Sources said most people took part in the CPM rally for the first time to express their disgust against the prolonged turf war in the area between the BJP and the Trinamul for nearly a year.

“This is the first time I have joined a political rally. Frequent clashes between the two sides to take control of the area are a threat to peaceful existence. Wednesday’s clash forced me to join the peace march (on Thursday) against such violent incidents,” said Budhi Murmu, a primary schoolteacher in Birbhum’s Gosaidanga village adjacent to Shimulia.

The rally passed through five villages, including Shimulia, to protest against Wednesday’s violent clash, hours before the police rounded up six persons from Trinamul and the BJP for their role in the turf war. “They were produced at a court in Bolpur and remanded to judicial custody,” said a police officer.

Goutam Ghosh, the CPM state committee member who led Thursday’s rally, said: “Most of the people at the rally had come to protest against the violence. We were surprised to find so many people who had never joined our political meetings or rallies. It proves the rural populace, especially farmers, are angry with the politics of violence,” he said.

Sources said soon after Wednesday’s clash, a few CPM leaders in Shimulia and nearby villages sensed the anger in the people and urged them to join Thursday’s rally.

“Clashes with bombs and bullets are too frequent. We campaigned among villagers to come and protest and they responded positively,” said Dinesh Ghorui, a CPM area committee member in Shimulia.