IN another sign of Left’s resurgence, tens of thousands of people marched into the heart of Kolkata on December 16, at the call of CPI(M) North 24 Parganas district committee. They came from faraway forest areas of Sundarbans, from working class habitats of Barracpore industrial area, from middle class suburbs like DumDum. With red flags held high, stream of humanity overflowed Sahid Minar Maidan. This was the fourth large gathering by the Left in a fortnight in Kolkata. On December 2, thousands rallied demanding interrogation of the chief minister in Saradha scam. On December 6, another rally marched through the streets at the call of 17 Left parties, denouncing communal forces. A militant gathering broke through police barricade in a protest action on December 11. And, on the top of them, the mammoth gathering in Sahid Minar, that too from a single district, has clearly indicated towards the invincibility of red flag in West Bengal. Undivided district of 24 Parganas, and now North 24 Parganas has been one of the strongholds of the Left movement, carrying the legacy of many historic battles of the working class and the peasantry. The political influence of the Left, the social - cultural impact of the Communist movement runs through the veins of this district. The Left activists and supporters in this district faced brutal terror in the last three and half years and many areas were still ‘prohibited’ for them. CPI(M) district committee launched an intensive campaign for more than one month in preparation for this historic rally. Hundreds of public meetings took place in the entire district. Massive door to door campaign was organised to put forward the political stand of the Party. The rally in Kolkata was the successful culmination of this determined political mobilisation. Addressing the rally Biman Basu and Suryakanta Misra called upon the people of the state to intensify resistance against the onslaught of the TMC government in the state. Biman Basu said that we did not favour implementation of Article 356 and, instead would expose this anti-democratic, anti-people regime to its core. Suryakanta Misra referred to the TMC’s involvement in Saradha scam and said that Mamata Banerjee and her government have brought shame for the state. Both Basu and Misra challenged the BJP and said that there were no forces on earth who could take away red flags from the people of West Bengal. CPI(M) district secretary Gautam Deb had to address the gathering through video as he was recuperating from a surgery. Deb denounced the designs of communal forces and said the people of Bengal would never polarise on religious identity and would fight anti-people policies unitedly. Families of 19 martyrs were felicitated and monetary help was handed over to them in the rally. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee met the relatives of the martyrs and assured them that the Party will always stand by them. The money was collected from millions of households in North 24 Parganas. The rally, as was announced, marched towards the Nabanna, the state secretariat, led by a delegation. The police blocked them and immediately roaring waves began to sweep the barricades away. However, the CPI(M) leaders appealed to the people for restraint and went to submit the deputation in the state assembly house to senior cabinet ministers.