Congress to hold counter-rally on July 21 against TMC's Martyrs' Day event in West Bengal
Synopsis
For the first time since 1998, the West Bengal Congress is challenging TMC's ownership of the 21 July Martyrs' Day commemoration — not just with a counter-rally, but with a pointed demand to reopen the 'Manish Gupta file' on the 1993 police firing. With TMC routed in the Assembly polls, the political ground in Bengal is shifting fast.
Key Takeaways
The West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) will hold a counter-protest on 21 July 2026 against TMC's annual Martyrs' Day rally in Kolkata .
The rally marks the first Congress challenge to TMC's ownership of the 21 July 1993 commemoration since 1998 .
Congress demands that the new government under CM Suvendu Adhikari reopen investigation files on former Home Secretary Manish Gupta 's role in the 1993 police firing that killed 13 youth Congress workers .
Manish Gupta later joined TMC, defeated then-CM Late Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee by over 16,000 votes in 2011 , and served as Power Minister from 2011 to 2016 .
Congress alleges TMC's 15-year rule (2011–2026) deliberately avoided a full investigation into Gupta's role.
The West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee (WBPCC) has announced a protest rally on 21 July 2026 in Kolkata to counter the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC)'s annual Martyrs' Day event — a move that marks a sharp political realignment in the state following TMC's landslide defeat in the recent Assembly elections.
Background: Who Owns Martyrs' Day?
The 21 July commemoration traces its origins to the killing of 13 youth Congress workers by police on that date in 1993, during the CPI(M)-led Left Front government under Chief Minister Late Jyoti Basu. Observing the day was initially a Congress tradition until Mamata Banerjee broke away from the party in 1998 to form the Trinamool Congress, after which TMC took ownership of the annual rally. For nearly three decades, the event remained firmly a TMC affair — until now.
The Congress Demand: Reopen the 'Manish Gupta File'
The WBPCC's counter-rally carries a distinct political demand: that the new state government, led by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari — the ninth Chief Minister of West Bengal — reopen investigative files examining the role of Manish Gupta, the erstwhile West Bengal Home Secretary, in ordering the police firing on 21 July 1993.
State Congress president Suvankar Sarkar said Gupta's position as Home Secretary at the time made his role in the incident 'extremely crucial.' Sarkar said: 'At that time, the then Home Secretary of West Bengal, Manish Gupta, was holding an important position in the administration. The people of West Bengal have the right to know the course of events of that day, the administrative decisions and the real truth behind the firing. Therefore, in the interest of complete transparency and for the purpose of uncovering the truth, the 'Manish Gupta file' must be made public immediately.'
Who Is Manish Gupta?
After retiring from the bureaucracy, Manish Gupta joined the Trinamool Congress and contested the 2011 Assembly election from the Jadavpur constituency in South 24 Parganas district. In a politically significant debut, he defeated then Chief Minister Late Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee by a margin of over 16,000 votes, symbolising the end of the 34-year Left Front regime. He subsequently served as Power Minister in the first Mamata Banerjee-led cabinet from 2011 to 2016.
In the 2016 Assembly elections, Gupta lost the Jadavpur seat to CPI(M)'s Sujan Chakraborty by over 14,000 votes. He was later sent to the Rajya Sabha by the TMC leadership.
Why Congress Is Pressing Now
Another state Congress leader, speaking on the counter-rally, argued that the TMC's 15-year rule from 2011 to 2026 had deliberately avoided a thorough investigation into Gupta's role — a charge that Congress now intends to press under the new dispensation. Notably, this is the first time since 1998 that the Congress has attempted to reclaim the political narrative around the 21 July 1993 killings. With TMC weakened after its Assembly poll defeat, the opposition space in West Bengal is visibly in flux, and Congress appears determined to use the anniversary as a platform to reassert its historical claim to the tragedy.
The counter-rally is expected to set the tone for a broader Congress push to rebuild its presence in a state where it once held significant ground before TMC's rise.
Point of View
TMC has used the Martyrs' Day rally as its most powerful annual mobilisation tool — and the fact that Congress is now contesting that space signals how dramatically the Bengal opposition landscape has shifted after TMC's Assembly defeat. The 'Manish Gupta file' demand is sharp: it implicates a man who served in the TMC cabinet, raising questions about why the party that built its identity on the 1993 killings never pressed for full accountability during its 15 years in power. Whether the new Adhikari government acts on Congress's demand — or ignores it — will itself be politically revealing.
NationPress
27 Jun 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Congress organising a counter-rally on 21 July in West Bengal?
The West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee has announced a protest on 21 July 2026 to counter TMC's annual Martyrs' Day rally, following TMC's landslide defeat in the recent Assembly elections. Congress is also using the occasion to demand that the new state government reopen investigation files on the 1993 police firing that killed 13 youth Congress workers.
What is the significance of 21 July in West Bengal politics?
On 21 July 1993, police fired on a group of youth Congress workers in Kolkata during the CPI(M)-led Left Front government under Chief Minister Late Jyoti Basu, killing 13 people. The date became an annual commemoration first by Congress, and then by TMC after Mamata Banerjee broke away from Congress in 1998.
Who is Manish Gupta and why is Congress targeting him?
Manish Gupta was the West Bengal Home Secretary at the time of the 21 July 1993 police firing. He later joined TMC, defeated then-CM Late Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in the 2011 Jadavpur election by over 16,000 votes, and served as Power Minister in the first Mamata Banerjee cabinet from 2011 to 2016. Congress alleges his role in the firing was 'extremely crucial' and demands that investigative files be made public.
What does Congress want the new West Bengal government to do?
Congress is demanding that Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari's government reopen and make public the files examining Manish Gupta's role as Home Secretary in ordering the police firing on 21 July 1993. The party also questions why the TMC government during its 15-year rule from 2011 to 2026 avoided a thorough investigation.
How does this counter-rally change West Bengal's political landscape?
This is the first time since 1998 that Congress has directly challenged TMC's ownership of the 21 July commemoration. With TMC weakened after its Assembly poll defeat, Congress is attempting to reclaim both the historical narrative and political space in a state where it once had a significant presence before TMC's rise.
