- Mamata Banerjee led a Shahid Diwas rally near Birla Planetarium in Kolkata
- Rebel TMC faction held a parallel Martyrs Day event near Mayo Road statue
- Banerjee accused rebels of betrayal and dared them to join the BJP
July 21. Martyrs' Day on the Trinamool Congress calendar. A day that holds immense historical, political, and emotional significance for the party.
A mega Mamata Banerjee show of strength till last year. A display of division this year.
For the first time since the political churn in West Bengal and the mutiny within the Trinamool Congress, two events commemorating the day were held just 2 kilometres apart in Kolkata.
Mamata Banerjee led the Shahid Diwas rally of her faction near the Birla Planetarium, while rebels held a parallel programme near the Mahatma Gandhi statue at Mayo Road.
Martyrs' Day, or Shahid Diwas, observed annually by the Trinamool Congress on July 21, commemorates 13 Youth Congress workers killed in police firing during a 1993 rally led by Mamata Banerjee against the Left Front government.
The Congress held its own separate event in the city.
The two TMC factions took aim at each other at the events with bitter war of words.
Addressing her supporters, Mamata Banerjee dared the rebels to join the BJP and contest elections, referring to defectors as "thieves".
"I dare them to join the BJP and contest elections," she said.
"After winning on TMC symbols, the rebels have backstabbed the party," she added, declaring that she would take them back even if they wanted to return.
Thanking supporters who attended her rally, Banerjee said she saluted party workers who were her "real strength".
Two kilometres away, the rebel camp took potshots at the former chief minister and her powerful nephew, Abhishek Banerjee.
Rebel MLA Madan Mitra taunted Banerjee for giving prominence to celebrities over party workers. "Lakhs of workers made you the chief minister, not the celebrities," he said. Attacking her for promoting her nephew, the former aide dared Banerjee to admit that her mistakes ruined the party.
"Let Mamata come and say she was wrong and we will fall at her feet," he said.
He also dared Abhishek Banerjee to "say in public that he finished the party".
Hitting out at Abhishek Banerjee, Madan Mitra alleged that he spent party fund on "personal luxury and flying in private jets".
Another Mamata aide-turned-rebel, Firhad Hakim, also launched a scathing attack on his former boss, asking if "blood was thicker than her workers' love".
"Trinamool is built on the blood of lakhs of workers. We fought under Mamata Banerjee. Today we ask her if she cares about blood relations or the followers," he said.
Banerjee, on her part, also used the occasion to target the central government.
Referring to Monday's protest in Delhi, she said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had "turned his car" after the alleged police action against students.
She also alleged that the BJP-led government had crossed the limits of authoritarianism, adding that the ongoing fight was "a movement to save democracy".
Banerjee also alleged that the BJP had tried to disrupt the TMC's Martyrs' Day programme and claimed that around 600 bikers carrying guns had come to destroy the stage on Monday night.
"Last night, Abhishek and I, along with other leaders, guarded the Shaheed Diwas stage from the BJP's continuous attack. But we did not get any help from the police despite informing them several times. We can understand whose directions work behind this," she said.
