The Martyrs’ Day rally drew people from all over the state to central Calcutta. Here’s what The Telegraph saw, in the rally and on its peripheries.

Scheme ‘push’

Three giant cut-outs, each mounted on a van, stood at Esplanade, near Chowringhee Road’s intersection with Lenin Sarani.

One of them showed chief minister Mamata Banerjee as Goddess Durga. Each of the 10 hands portrayed a welfare scheme.

Another was a giant pot with Lakshmir Bhandar written over it. The third was the twin-flower symbol of the Trinamool Congress.

All three cut-outs had been prepared by a local Trinamool leader. The vans they were mounted on had to be hand-pushed from Park Circus, where they had been designed, to the rally venue.

The distance is around 7km.

“Five to six men pushed each van. We had to be careful so that the cut-outs did not topple,” said Md Abdul Hamid Mollah, one of the men who pushed the Lakshmir Bhandar van.

Ritual

Babu Ghosh came riding a bike, that looked more like a chariot. It was decorated with artificial flowers and Trinamool flags.

The handlebars were not visible because a portrait of Mamata was pasted in the front of the two-wheeler.

Many rallyists stopped Ghosh and requested for a picture. He happily obliged.

“Every year, I spent around two hours decorating my bike on July 20 before coming here. It is like an annual ritual,” said Ghosh, who lives in Baranagar.

Langar

The aroma of spices filled the air at one corner of Esplanade. It came from a slice of a pavement near the Y-Channel, from giant cooking pots.

The Sikh community had set up a langar there, distributing puri, paratha and a mishmash of chickpeas and potatoes.

“A container carries over 50kg of sabzi. We have already emptied over 10 containers,” said a volunteer holding a spatula.

More than 50 people were waiting in a queue at the counter from where the food was being distributed on paper plates.

“Guru Nanakji started the tradition of langar 550 years ago. We are merely continuing it,” said Jasbinder Singh, general secretary of Alampur Gurdwara in Howrah, in
between serving food to people.

Water bottles and tea were also being served from the langar.

Quick feast

Hundreds of vehicles parked along Central Avenue had turned into feast dens. On a mini-truck near Girish Park, rice and chicken were being cooked.

“We left home early in the morning. We will have a quick lunch and then go near the dais,” said Tarak Maiti, who came with a group from Singur, in Hooghly.