The CPM on Monday said the party or its mass organisations had no connection with the Chhatra Samaj’s call for a “March to Nabanna” on Tuesday.

The CPM also claimed that the proposed Tuesday march was nothing but a devious design of the saffron ecosystem to divert the growing people’s movement to demand justice for the RG Kar trainee doctor who was raped and murdered on August 9.

“Who is this Chhatra Samaj? Did anyone hear about them before this (call for Tuesday’s march)?... When a people’s movement was gathering pace on the (RG Kar) incident, on which side was the BJP?... Like in the case of Manipur, the Prime Minister did not tweet on this incident too.... Now when the movement is spreading, people of all sections of life and livelihood are joining it and a Left mindset is evident in this movement... (BJP leader) Suvendu Adhikari has given the call for bodies (implying the BJP’s wish for violence on Tuesday).... To divert the movement and gain political mileage, a racket has become active,” CPM state secretary Md Salim said on Monday.

After the so-called apolitical Chhatra Samaj gave the call for Tuesday’s “March to Nabanna” with the avowed aim to demand the resignation of chief minister Mamata Banerjee over the RG Kar issue, BJP leaders, including Adhikari, backed the march and appealed to all those seeking justice for the victim to join it without party flags.

Through social media networks, Left leaders and supporters have tried to alert its support base to stay away from the “Rightwing trap”.

As much of the Left’s electoral support base has shifted towards the BJP over the past few polls and given the sensitive nature of the RG Kar issue, the Left leadership wanted to ensure that no further erosion took place.

Sources said that the SFI and DYFI leadership became alarmed after they got to know that the Chhatra Samaj was allegedly using their names to align them to Tuesday’s march.

In a video message posted on the official Facebook page of DYFI West Bengal on Sunday night, the organisation’s state unit secretary Minakshi Mukherjee said that from social media posts she had come to know that the organisers of the August 27 march had “unethically” linked her name to the programme and warned Left supporters to stay away from the “trap laid by the RSS-VHP-BJP”.

“By linking my name to the programme, the organisers have done an extremely unethical act with the intention to confuse the people. On behalf of the DYFI, we condemn this act. This attempt to create confusion is a deliberate ploy to break the movement that seeks justice for the (RG Kar) victim,” Minakshi said, adding that no Left organisation would be involved in Tuesday’s rally.

Echoing Minakshi, Debanjan De, SFI state secretary, said on Monday that Left student organisations were opposed to the “RSS/BJP’s theatrics”.

“This movement is an attempt to malign Bengal’s student community. No right-thinking student organisation can call a protest on the day of the UGC-NET exam. Those who had a hand in rape and murder incidents at Hathras, Unnao, Kathua are trying to hide behind the veil of Chhatra Samaj and divert the attention from the
demand to seek justice for RG Kar,” De said.

Adhikari’s appeal for a flagless protest on Tuesday gave the Trinamul ammunition to accuse the CPM of working in tandem with the BJP on the RG Kar issue. On Monday, the TMC linked the Left to the Chhatra Samaj protest, prompting the CPM and its organisations to refute the charges.

Salim questioned the ruling party’s “over-enthusiastic reaction” to Tuesday’s event.

“Why is Trinamul showing so much enthusiasm over this march? Because they also want to derail the movement.... Trinamul and the BJP are trying to bring down the movement to the gutter level... The CPM feels this is not a political fight, it is a social fight and the entire society is fighting this battle...,” Salim said.

Asked if Salim’s demand for the resignation of Bengal’s health minister and home minister — both portfolios are held by Mamata Banerjee — was any different from asking the chief minister to quit, a CPM leader said: “Yes”.

“Mamata holds the two portfolios.... For the sake of justice for the victim, she must give up these two departments. It is not the same as asking the CM to resign,” he said.