00:00I'm taking you directly to Bengal because that's where Mamata Banerjee, now an opposition leader, is staging a protest.
00:06She's back with her street fight mode and that's Mamata Banerjee,
00:10who had been able to be a chief minister multiple times but now has returned to the street fight.
00:18Let's take a look at the number of people who have gathered.
00:22Now, remember, Mamata Banerjee has been known as a street worker.
00:26That's been her USP, that's been her image when she started, especially against the left parties.
00:32Now you're looking at, again, her mode being presented again.
00:36Even though, of course, as a chief minister, she continued to be on the streets if there was an issue
00:41that bothered her.
00:42But to be able to, one, remain in office for 15 years from 2011 to 2026,
00:48winning state assembly three times, repeatedly, consecutively.
00:52But now she gets to sit, well, not even in opposition.
00:56She is an opposition leader who has her other MLAs who won this time and sitting with her.
01:03So that's Mamata Banerjee speaking.
01:05Let's just cut down to the audio, audio with what's happening there on the ground.
01:23As we have seen in Mamata Banerjee's rallies and dharnas are at the forefront.
01:27This is a sit-in protest while there are already tensions within the TMC about defections.
01:35I want to bring in Tapas Sen Gupta for the latest.
01:37Tapas is very interesting at a time when she's trying to hold on to her own MLAs.
01:41How do you see the situation with this sit-in protest?
01:44What is the reason?
01:45Why has Mamata Banerjee returned to her street fight mode?
01:49And what are the allegations?
01:56Well, see, Pooja, there are multiple plethora of allegations,
01:58the following which Mamata Banerjee have come and hit the streets once again today
02:02after the poll debacle.
02:03This is the first time that Mamata Banerjee have hit the streets
02:06because of, as she says, there have been a lot of incidents of atrocities
02:10on Sredemol Congress workers.
02:11There have been several party offices which have been completely vandalized.
02:14And apart from that, the kind of attack that was inflicted on Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday
02:20are the issues based on which Mamata Banerjee have taken up the entire protest onto her shoulder.
02:27And the old guards, interestingly, the old guards, I'll show you,
02:30I'll ask Shubhaji to show you, the old guards of Trinamul Congress,
02:34the old confidantes of Trinamul Congress like Madad Mitra, Noyena Bandopadai,
02:40Dola Sen and Kollan Banerjee, they are the leaders who are actually present here.
02:45They have been there since the inception of the party.
02:48But we have seen that they were in some way cornered in the last seven, eight years.
02:53But finally, they are the only people who are sitting by Mamata Banerjee.
02:57And this protest is likely to continue till 8 p.m. today.
03:01However, the police have not granted a permission till 8 p.m.
03:04Now it remains to be seen what exactly transpires,
03:07because this was not the first place, which was the first choice of Trinamul Congress.
03:12But based on the schedule of the day, the Kolkata police did not permit them to hold a meeting at
03:18Rani Rashmoni,
03:18which is barely 100 meters away from here.
03:21But finally, this is known as the Y Channel.
03:23And this Y Channel have been chosen by police,
03:26and this alternative arrangement have been accepted by Trinamul Congress Supremo.
03:29And interestingly, before reaching this very venue,
03:33she went on to the statue of B.R. Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi and paid floral tribute.
03:39It's very significant politically.
03:42And after that, she came here, she reached here,
03:44and now she is sitting in Dharna,
03:46which is likely to continue for next few hours from now.
03:50Back to you.
03:51Dapa, stay on with me.
03:52Look at these images on our screen.
03:54Senior leaders who've been there.
03:56This is in the backdrop of, ladies and gentlemen,
03:59two MLAs expelled from the TMC over anti-party activities,
04:04over that they perhaps leaked out information if these were fort signatures or what.
04:10Suvendu Sarkar, meanwhile, beginning their governance,
04:13free bus rides for women,
04:15a lot of other announcements,
04:16while women here of TMC sitting on Dharna.
04:19Can you identify some of the leaders for us, Tappas?
04:21And is this a good turnout?
04:23Because from what I've seen usually of Mamata Banerjee's rallies,
04:27it's a humongous crowd.
04:28There are hundreds, if not more, people, supporters usually with her
04:34when she's on a Dharna.
04:35This time, it looks like a handful of her loyalists are there.
04:42Well, yes, absolutely.
04:44The handful loyalists are there with Mamata Banerjee right now.
04:47Since the very inception of the party,
04:49these leaders like Colin Banerjee, Madan Mitra, Dola Sain,
04:53they have been with Mamata Banerjee.
04:55And once again, after the poll debacle,
04:57when she has been calling for senior leaders for meeting,
05:00be it councillors or the MLAs or the MPs,
05:04people were not turning out to her residence
05:06since the last couple of meetings.
05:07But what we can witness right now,
05:09in a worst of time,
05:10it's the old guards who are sitting beside Mamata Banerjee.
05:15And this is the first time that she has hit the streets
05:17after poll debacle.
05:19And this gives such a narrative
05:21that be it a bad time for Krennabal Congress,
05:23but it's about the old guards
05:25who have always stood for rock solid with Mamata Banerjee.
05:28And even in a worst of time,
05:30they continue to remain with Mamata Banerjee.
05:32And from this very protest,
05:34Mamata Banerjee is all set
05:35to give a political narrative
05:37to the political strategies
05:40that are being planned by her,
05:42that what would be the roadmap
05:43for Trinamul Congress in days to come.
05:47Because we have not seen major protests
05:49happening since last one month,
05:51ever since BJP came to power.
05:53Now it is expected
05:54that this is how she has set the ball rolling.
05:57And after this,
05:58there will be multiple such protests
05:59that would happen
06:00across the state of West Bengal.
06:02That's what the Trinamul Congress says.
06:04And who better than Mamata Banerjee,
06:05known to be a street fighter,
06:07took the responsibility on her own shoulder
06:09and hit the streets.
06:11It's very humid.
06:12But despite that,
06:13you can see huge number of turnout
06:15of Trinamul Congress supporters
06:16who have come and joined in this protest.
06:18Puja.
06:18Tapa, stay on with me.
06:20So that's the big news on our screen.
06:22Mamata Banerjee,
06:23three-time Chief Minister,
06:24now returns to her street mode.
06:27This is what she did as a young Neta as well
06:29when she was taking on
06:31then the strongest left government.
06:33It was a street fight,
06:35a street mode that attracted attention.
06:37She's returning with it.
06:38she's returning in the top 90s and theå¹¾ race.
06:38that was easily associated with Passport.
06:38It's a mystery and it's maybe this good story,
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