Mamata Banerjee's Kolkata protest walk draws thin crowd amid TMC crisis
Synopsis
Mamata Banerjee's first major street protest since TMC's West Bengal election wipeout drew a near-empty turnout — senior party leaders stayed away, the planned public meeting was scrapped, and she left without speaking. It is a stark signal of how far the Banerjees' grip on their own party has slipped.
Key Takeaways
Mamata Banerjee led a protest walk from Esplanade to Subodh Mallick Square in central Kolkata on 17 June against hawker eviction drives.
The event drew a thin crowd; only a few front-ranking Trinamool Congress leaders attended.
A planned public meeting at the end of the walk was cancelled; Banerjee left immediately after the march.
Several senior TMC leaders who publicly back the Banerjees were conspicuously absent.
Political observers say both Mamata and Abhishek Banerjee have reportedly lost control over the party's legislative and Parliamentary teams.
This was only Banerjee's second public programme since TMC 's landslide defeat in the West Bengal assembly elections.
All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) president and former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday, 17 June led a protest walk through central Kolkata against hawker eviction drives being carried out by the state administration across West Bengal. The event, however, drew a notably thin turnout, with only a handful of senior party leaders in attendance.
What the Protest Was About
The march was organised around three core grievances: the ongoing hawker eviction drives, alleged attacks on Trinamool Congress workers in various parts of the state, and what the party described as the arrest of its leaders on 'false charges.' The route ran from Esplanade to Subodh Mallick Square, both in central Kolkata.
A public meeting had originally been planned at the conclusion of the walk, but it was cancelled. Banerjee left the venue immediately after the march ended, without addressing the crowd.
A Flop Show, Say Observers
Political observers described Wednesday's turnout as a significant setback. Notably, several senior Trinamool leaders who publicly maintain their allegiance to Mamata Banerjee and party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee were conspicuously absent. According to analysts, the poor showing reflects a deeper organisational fracture: both Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee have reportedly lost effective control over the party's legislative wing in the West Bengal assembly as well as its Parliamentary contingent in the Lok Sabha.
Context: A Party in Retreat
The protest comes in the wake of Trinamool Congress's landslide defeat in the recently concluded West Bengal assembly elections — a poll that also saw Mamata Banerjee suffer a personal defeat from her constituency. Since that loss, she has largely withdrawn from active public engagements, limiting her political presence to occasional video messages on social media.
Her last public programme before Wednesday was a protest demonstration on 2 June, held after her nephew and party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee was attacked at Sonarpur in South 24 Parganas district last month. Wednesday's march marked only her second public appearance since the election defeat.
What This Signals
The low attendance at an event organised by a former Chief Minister — on an emotive issue like hawker evictions that directly affects urban livelihoods — underlines the scale of Trinamool Congress's post-election disarray. With senior leaders staying away and the party's legislative and Parliamentary teams reportedly drifting out of the Banerjees' orbit, the road to organisational recovery looks uncertain. How Mamata Banerjee navigates the opposition space in the coming weeks will be closely watched.
Point of View
It suggests the brand is no longer sufficient glue. The hawker eviction issue is genuinely resonant with Kolkata's working class, yet even that could not mobilise the party machinery. What Wednesday revealed is not just post-defeat fatigue but a structural vacuum: with the legislative and Parliamentary wings reportedly drifting, TMC risks becoming a party that has a president but no effective command structure. That is a dangerous place to be heading into any future electoral cycle.
NationPress
2 Aug 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Mamata Banerjee hold a protest walk in Kolkata on 17 June?
Mamata Banerjee organised the protest walk to oppose hawker eviction drives being conducted by the state administration across West Bengal, as well as to highlight alleged attacks on Trinamool Congress workers and what the party called false arrests of its leaders.
Why did the protest event see such low turnout?
Political observers attribute the poor attendance to the weakening organisational authority of both Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee following TMC's landslide defeat in the West Bengal assembly elections. Several senior TMC leaders who nominally back the Banerjees were absent from the march.
What happened to the public meeting planned after the march?
A public meeting originally scheduled at Subodh Mallick Square at the end of the protest walk was cancelled. Mamata Banerjee left the venue immediately after the march concluded without addressing supporters.
When was Mamata Banerjee's last public programme before this protest?
Her previous public programme was a protest demonstration on 2 June, held after her nephew and TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee was attacked at Sonarpur in South 24 Parganas district. Before that, she had largely confined herself to video messages on social media following the election defeat.
What does the low turnout indicate about Trinamool Congress's current state?
According to political observers, it signals that both Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee have reportedly lost effective control over the party's legislative team in the West Bengal assembly and its Parliamentary team in the Lok Sabha, pointing to a deeper organisational crisis within TMC.
