Bengal’s political space was on the boil on Wednesday as Opposition parties hit the streets of Calcutta on a day chief minister Mamata Banerjee began her 30-hour sit-in to register her protest against the Centre’s alleged refusal to release funds for the state.

In a battle to grab eyeballs, the Left Front took out a rally from Moulali against the “state government’s corruption” and the non-release of funds by the central government and the Congress wanted to protest against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi’s Lok Sabha membership and the purported Adani scam. In Shyambazar, BJP leaders sat on a four-hour dharna to protest the state’s alleged misappropriation of central funds.

The Left Front rally took off to a dramatic start as the Congress procession arrived at the Ramlila Maidan and both decided to march together to Park Circus. As panchayat polls will be held soon, political observers found the decision of the Left and the Congress to merge rallies into one of “immense significance”.

CPM sources said leaders of the Left and Congress saw the rally as an opportunity to display their coordinated strength and send out a message of unity ahead of the panchayat and Lok Sabha polls.

“The rally was called by the Left Front and our chairman Biman Bose invited all anti-BJP and anti-Trinamul forces to join in. The Congress responded to that call and joined our rally,” said CPM state secretary Md Salim.

“All these forces have come together at the rural level. Now it is time for itto happen in cities,” he added, hinting that the Left andthe Congress would contest the polls together.

Addressing the crowd at the end of the rally, Bose accused the central government of not releasing funds meant for the people of Bengal. A few kilometres away on Red Road, Mamata sat on a dharna with a similar demand.

Bose, however, did not stop with his charges against the Centre. He said corruption charges against the state government must be investigated but that should not mean stopping central funds meant for the poor.

Bose was also unsparing in his attack on the state government’s “rampant corruption” from top to bottom.

Congress leader Riju Ghoshal said the merger of the two rallies would leave a positive impact on people. “As issues raised by the Left front were also our concerns, we decided to merge the two rallies,” he said.

The BJP dharna at Shyambazar had state unit chief Sukanta Majumdar, leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari and national vice-president of the party Dilip Ghosh. The leaders “reminded the people about the misappropriation of central funds by the Trinamul”.

“Suvendu da met the Union home minister (Amit Shah) a few days back. We met him on Tuesday. None of the thieves will be spared. Everyone will be arrested,” Majumdar said.

“If you want funds, you will have to produce expense details,” Majumdar said in a purported dig at Mamata.

Adhikari also listed the alleged instances of misappropriation of central funds by the state government. He also took a dig at the Left and the Congress, saying the BJP was the only real Opposition in the state.

Other parties right now were just enjoying the benefits of people’s receding faith in the Trinamul, Adhikari said.