• Abhishek Banerjee speaks from the dias
• Bhaag BJP bhaag, says Firhad Hakim at the Martyrs' Day event
• Shatrughan Sinha, GTA chairman Anit Thapa speaks from the podium
• Sudip Bandopadhay speaking from the dais, Abhishek Banerjee arrives at the venue
• Martyrs' Day event begins: After songs by Indranil Sen, Subrata Bakshi speaks from the podium
• Trinamul Congress supporters are trooping in to the city centre by thousands, many had arrived in the city by Wednesday afternoon
• Chief minister Mamata Banerjee is expected to reach the venue of the rally via Bentinck Street
• Expected turnout in Thursday's mega rally is expected to touch 20 lakh, say party sources
• Traffic is being regulated on all major thoroughfares of the city, namely Amherst Street, Bidhan Sarani (KC Sen Street to Vivekananda Road), College Street, Brabourne Road, Strand Road (Hare Street to Raja Woodmount Street), BB Ganguly Street, Bentinck Street, New CIT Road, Rabindra Sarani (BK Pal Avenue to Lal Bazar Street)
• The rally, an annual event, is in remembrance of the death of 13 people in police firing during a protest that Mamata Banerjee, then a Youth Congress leader, was leading on July 21 in 1993. The Left Front was in power in Bengal at the time

Trinamul Congress leaders on Wednesday claimed Martyrs’ Day rally on Thursday would break all previous records of the July 21 event as they were expecting a turnout of around 20 lakh people.

This year, the event will be organised offline after a two-year gap and the party leaders have taken several special initiatives to make the event successful in terms of participation.

“Ekushe July (July 21) rally this year will break all possible records in terms of gathering even compared to that of 2011 when the party came to power for the first time. According to reports coming from districts, it would cross 20 lakh,” said a senior Trinamul leader in Calcutta.

The gathering at Esplanade. Twitter / @AITCofficial

Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee said it would have been better had the event been planned at the Brigade Parade Grounds, instead of Esplanade.

“It would have been better had we organised the event at the Brigade instead of the Esplanade area.... The enthusiasm among party workers that we witnessed today is certainly unprecedented. According to our assessment, we will be able to accommodate only one-tenth of the total participants coming to Calcutta for the event,” said Abhishek, who visited the venue.

The Trinamul leadership laid stress on bringing more people from tribal communities from western districts like Purulia, Jhargram and Bankura, the pockets where the saffron camp performed well in the Assembly polls. Twitter / @AITCofficial

Sources said Trinamul leaders — in anticipation of a record turnout on Thursday — had decided to put up 100-odd giant screens at different points in the city to telecast the event live.

Abhishek said the party had arranged for food and accommodation for around 45,000 people but over 80,000 had reached Calcutta by Wednesday afternoon.

Sources in Trinamul said the plan to bring a record number of people started around a month ago.

A source said in the past few years, Trinamul workers and supporters, mainly from Calcutta and south Bengal districts like North 24-Parganas, South 24-Parganas, Hooghly, Howrah, Birbhum and East Burdwan, used to attend the event. The participation of party workers from the districts in north and western Bengal was limited.

This time, the source added, the party has focussed on those zones where the BJP won several Assembly or parliamentary seats. Earlier, merely 20,000 to 30,000 people used to come to Calcutta from all six north Bengal districts. This time, at least one lakh people from north Bengal will attend the rally, said the source.

The Trinamul leadership laid stress on bringing more people from tribal communities from western districts like Purulia, Jhargram and Bankura, the pockets where the saffron camp performed well in the Assembly polls.

Trinamul leadership has also directed its Matua leaders in Nadia and North 24-Parganas to mobilise at least 50,000 people from the community for the July 21 rally.

Additional reporting by Snehamoy Chakraborty