Arun Adhikari (name changed), while getting off an app cab in front of Victoria Memorial here on Saturday, saw a band of youths carrying red flags in a huddle near the main gate of the historic building and apprehended that his trip with his two children to the historic building would go awry.

After all, the sight of red flags has been synonymous with strikes and closures in Bengal.

But the father of two was in for a pleasant surprise. The group with red flags approached him with smiling faces, conveyed their new year greetings to him and his family and left after handing him a leaflet.

“I was worried to see red flags as I thought there must be some demonstration here and people would not be allowed to enter.... Thank God that wasn’t the case,” Adhikari smiled.

Youths with red flags sprang similar surprises to revellers across the city on Saturday. The beleaguered CPM, in a first initiative of its kind, hit the streets of Calcutta to meet and greet common people on new year’s eve. A ‘humble’ fund-collection drive from people willing to support the party was also part of the outreach, in which a four-page leaflet prepared by the party’s Calcutta district committee, was distributed among people.

Several senior CPM leaders, like central committee member Sujan Chakraborty who was outside Alipore Zoo, greeted people, posed for selfies with them and played with children on Saturday. On January 1, Sunday, Left Front chairman Biman Bose will be present at a similar event near New Market.