In a rare show of unity, the city saw senior leaders of political parties from opposite ends of the spectrum congregate here on Tuesday, proving once again that electoral politics can indeed create the ground for a common-cause.
Leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Trinamool Congress, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party came together at a rally organised by the ‘Matua' sub-sect, expressing solidarity with the community, which has over 20 lakh supporters across south Bengal and comprises a sizeable vote-bank. It is believed to have swung votes in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections and is expected to do the same in the coming Assembly elections.
The presence of the CPI(M) and the Trinamool raised eyebrows since representatives of these parties have not shared any platform since the Singur episode in 2008.
No interaction
Senior Trinamool leader and Union Minister of State for Shipping Mukul Ray was the first to arrive; the State's Housing Minister Goutam Deb followed suit shortly. The two leaders, however, did not interact with each other and Mr. Ray left the venue within half-an-hour.
While none from the Trinamool addressed the rally, Mr. Deb termed the congregation a “historic event” and said it should serve a lesson to all political parties that narrow political divide should not come in the way of serving people.
“Today we are in the government and tomorrow someone else will be. So it is not desirable to politicise every issue. We should all work towards the development of the State, irrespective of political colours,” Mr. Deb said. Manas Bhuniya, president of the WBPCC, and Tathagata Roy, senior State BJP leader, concurred with him.
The Matua community mainly comprises people from the Other Backward Classes who had sought refuge in India following the Partition and during the Bangladesh Liberation war in 1971.
The demand to grant citizenship to all the refugees was raised at the rally and was supported by all the parties present.
