New Delhi:
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee opens her innings as an official opposition party with a protest rally against the government's new reforms on the streets of Delhi today. She is expected to address the rally in a short while from now. So far, the response to the rally has been tepid, though organisers say that supporters from neighbouring states will be joining in. Delhi Police has given permission for a gathering of 5,000 people.
On display at the rally are banners critical of the government's decision to allow FDI in retail - "Don't cheat people, don't kill people", "reduce prices of cooking gas, save lives of aam admi," read some of them. Several party leaders are already on stage; supporters are carrying party flags and placards with anti-government slogans.
Around 1000 Trinamool supporters from Haryana, 2000 from Uttar Pradesh, and the party's student leaders and supporters from West Bengal, apart from MLAs from Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur are taking part in the rally.
Ms Banerjee, in symbolic, loaded gesture, also announced on Sunday that she is giving up her government flat in central Delhi, which she got as an MP and had used for the last 19 years.
Trinamool leaders say the rally at Jantar Mantar today will demonstrate the party's solidarity with the 'aam aadmi' against the "anti-people" decisions of the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government at the Centre.
The cover photo on Ms Banerjee's Facebook page is the Trinamool's banner for today's rally - it reads, "All India Trinamool Congress protests against Retail FDI, Diesel Price Hike, LPG Subsidy Cap, Fertilizer Price Hike." Ms Banerjee, who is also West Bengal Chief Minister had used this Facebook page to ask people to join her rally and bring friends with them. On Saturday she posted, "Looting is on in the name of aam admi and reforms."
Meanwhile, in an apparent counter to Ms Banerjee's anti-reform rally, the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee organised an interaction session with Commerce Minister Anand Sharma in Delhi today, where he defended FDI in retail. The minister also stressed that BJP leaders didn't have farmers' interests on their mind while opposing FDI in retail, which he claimed will benefit them. He also said the BJP had "double standards" as it had once supported 100 per cent FDI in retail.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, also present at the interaction, said, "Delhi wants FDI in retail. You can be our enemies....but I request our opposition to not be the enemies of the country, the people of this country. The Congress is the only party which has taken a tough decision like this but we know that the benefits will be immense."
She also announced that Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will address public rallies to explain the issue of FDI in retail.
A day ahead of today's rally, former Railway Minister and Trinamool leader Mukul Roy had warned the Centre that his party's agitation would spark a movement across the country against the Manmohan Singh government's decisions to allow Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail, hike diesel prices and put a cap on the number of subsidised LPG cylinders.
"There will be country-wide protests after this. Tomorrow is just the beginning," Mr Roy said in Delhi. He also asserted that the Trinamool Congress does not want support from any other party in their protest. "They are doing politics. Our leader feels for the people," the Trinamool MP said.
Reacting to the Trinamool's call for a rally in the national capital, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, V Narayanasamy, hit out at party chief Ms Banerjee and condemned her decision to oppose the reforms. He also said that West Bengal has seen no development since Ms Banerjee came to power in the state. "After Mamata Banerjee came to power in West Bengal, there is no industrial development and no jobs were created. A state cannot remain like that. The Centre cannot remain like that. The Centre has to march forward for the purpose of fulfilling the wishes and aspirations of the people," he said.
Today's protest comes nearly two weeks after Ms Banerjee announced her decision to pull out from the Congress-led UPA government. A few days after that announcement, Ms Banerjee formally withdrew from the alliance along with her 19 MPs, leaving the UPA scrounging for numbers in the Lok Sabha. It is currently safe, propped up by external support from Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati.
Several parties including UPA ally Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party, and opposition parties including the BJP, JD(U) and the Left Front had held a massive protest rally on September 20 against the Centre's reforms.