The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamul Congress observes July 21 as the Martyrs’ Day every year. As a matter of established traditions, the party (now in power for the 13th straight year), displays its strength in terms of fan following and support base, makes quite a few important announcements, including about the exact figures of how many leaders from other parties have switched over to the Trinamul Congress in the year gone by and also about various new political moves and movements that are also in the pipeline. Ironically, this time around, it was too different from the precedents. Although the party left no stone unturned to turn it into a show of strength, there were neither surprise elements nor any announcements about the next round of political programmes. The Chief Minister instead used the platform, in front of a mammoth gathering, to come up with a vision statement of the party and crucial messages to the party rank and file and outsiders as well.

Armed with a fantastic showing in the recently held Lok Sabha elections, Mamata’s first important message was loud and clear: she is very much part of the I.N.D.I.A (the name of the non-BJP political alliance given by none other than Mamata herself) and she would do everything possible to ensure that the Modi 3.0 government gets toppled before its tenure ends. Akhilesh Yadav, chief of Samajwadi Party (SP), Congress’ new-found ally in Uttar Pradesh, had been specially invited, possibly to send out a message to the Congress leadership and keep the equations going. Akhilesh came and made it crystal clear that they were on the same page, when it comes to national politics. Both of them said in no uncertain terms that the current dispensation in power at the Centre (which had come to power with a much thinner margin) would not last long. And more importantly, the BJP-led alliance cannot run the government on its free will, as it had been doing in its previous tenures, for howsoever small period it may last now.

The second important message was weaved around the loads of allegations of corruption (of various nature and magnitude) often labelled against a number of party leaders. Unlike many other parties, Mamata did not deny and disown these charges. Instead, she preferred to send across an unequivocal message that a section of the party leaders, somehow or the other engaged in corruption or wrong doings, would not be spared. She publicly admitted that a number of party leaders at different layers have become greedy.

They should give up their greed and be driven by dedication to serve the people, failing which there would be no place for them in the party. She sounded quite determined in following it up to the tee. Her nephew and party national general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee also echoed similar sentiments and sounded a word of caution for such sections within the party. Setting the house in order is apparently the priority for Mamata Banerjee.