CPM state secretary Md Salim said the alleged corruption of the Mamata Banerjee regime in the state and the “anti-people” policies of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre were making the people of Bengal take a Left turn.

He was addressing a rally in Barasat’s Kachhari Maidan.

CPM sources said the party’s public meeting saw a turnout of over a lakh, while the administration pegged it at 50,000 or so.

“The huge gathering is proof that the common people are finally realising the crimes of both Trinamul and the BJP. So, they are turning towards us,” Salim said.

The administration had denied the CPM permission to hold the rally 15 days after it had initially allowed the party to use the venue.

Sources said after the party was intimated about the withdrawal of permission on June 1, it moved Calcutta High Court against the administration’s decision on Monday.

Justice Rajasekhar Mantha allowed the party to hold the meeting between 3pm and 7pm.

The CPM’s North 24-Parganas district committee organised the rally.

A local party source said the venue had not been used by CPM in 11 years as the party was not confident that it would be able to draw enough people to fill the large ground.

“But this time, we decided to hold the event at Kachhari Maidan as we were confident that the turnout would be huge,” the source said.

CPM’s state committee member Palash Das, however, rejected this claim.

Das alleged that in the past 11 years, the administration did not allow them to use the venue.

Das claimed that more than a lakh attended Tuesday’s public meeting.

Apart from Md Salim, CPM central committee member Sujan Chakraborty and other senior Left leaders spoke to the assembled people.

Hitting out at Trinamul, Salim said rural poll dates should be announced immediately. This, he said, was necessary to remove “the corrupt” from the panchayats and hand over the reins of power to the masses through a united fight against Trinamul and the BJP.

Appreciating the people that braved a temperature of around 42°C to attend the CPM event, Salim dubbed the ground as the “Brigade of North 24-Parganas”. He was referring to the Brigade Parade grounds in Calcutta known to host mega political rallies.

Salim also asked the administration in the districts to take a lesson from the high court order allowing the CPM to hold the rally at Kachhari Maidan.

“The court dealt a big slap on the face of the district administration. Till the panchayat polls, officials should feel their cheeks to see if the redness (of the slap) is there,” Salim added and set the tone for the rural polls.

The CPM accused the administration of denying the party permission to hold rallies under pressure from the ruling party. Das said Trinamul realised the event was going to be a huge success and “that is why they tried to stop it”.

Trinamul leaders, however, said they had no hand in it.

Das said around 600 small roadside rallies were held throughout the district in the run-up to Tuesday’s event. Multiple tableaux went across the district telling people about Tuesday’s rally. Student and youth organisations of the party — the SFI and DYFI — distributed pamphlets on trains about the rally, he added.

In another order on Monday, Justice Mantha allowed the CPM to take out a march in Howrah. Howrah police had denied permission. Armed with the court order, the CPM held the march on Monday.

The CPM state committee will meet on Wednesday and Thursday to decide on its road map in connection with the rural polls.