Amid speculation over possible denial of police permission for TMC's Martyrs' Day rally on July 21 at its traditional venue on the streets of central Kolkata, the party on Saturday wrote to Kolkata Police seeking approval to hold the public meeting in front of Victoria House.
"We have written to Kolkata Police commissioner seeking permission to hold the party's Shahid Divas programme at the same venue where we have been holding it for the last few decades. Our leader Mamata Banerjee will address our workers from that meeting, like she has been doing in all the previous years," TMC MP Dola Sen said.
"It is our party's most important central programme and is now part of our-socio-political culture," she added.
Sen argued that if the government can keep an iconic central Kolkata thoroughfare, the Red Road, blocked for seven days to hold the International Yoga Divas programme where Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated, the same norm should also apply to the Matryrs' Day rally when a road in the same area will remain closed to traffic for a few hours.
"We have no objections to the Yoga Day function. But our party has been paying its respects to martyrs for the last 33 years and at this very same venue, not just for the last 15 years we were in power in the state. We expect the police to cooperate," Sen said.
The July 21 Martyrs' Day rally traces its origins to 1993, when supporters of the then Bengal Youth Congress, led by Mamata Banerjee, marched to the state secretariat, Writers' Building, demanding that voter identity cards be made the sole proof of identity for casting votes.
The demonstration turned violent after clashes with police, who opened fire on protesters, killing 13 Youth Congress supporters and injuring many others.
The incident became a defining moment in Banerjee's political career and a symbol of resistance against the then Left Front government.
After founding the Trinamool Congress in 1998, Banerjee institutionalised July 21 as 'Shahid Divas' (Martyrs' Day), holding an annual mass rally in Kolkata to commemorate those killed in the 1993 firing.
Over the years, the event has evolved into the party's largest political gathering, serving both as a memorial to the victims and as a platform for announcing the TMC's political agenda and organisational strategy.
The latest speculation over the rally venue comes amid reports of police denying permission for several street programmes proposed by the Banerjee-led faction of the TMC in recent times, prompting a political confrontation between the government led by chief minister Suvendu Adhikari and the TMC supremo.
The most prominent instance came ahead of TMC's planned June 2 sit-in at Rani Rashmoni Avenue, where police refused permission, citing administrative considerations.
Despite the denial, Banerjee proceeded with a protest at the Y-channel in Esplanade, accusing the BJP government of suppressing democratic dissent and daring authorities to arrest her.
According to the party, currently riddled with wide factional cracks, the refusals form part of a broader pattern of restricting opposition activity on Kolkata's streets since the BJP assumed office in Bengal.
Banerjee has alleged that police are being used to weaken her party and warned that if demonstrations continue to be blocked in Kolkata, TMC could shift its protests to New Delhi.
The TMC alleged that police denied permission for other programmes, including protests near railway stations such as Howrah and Ballygunge, fuelling allegations that the administration is selectively limiting opposition mobilisation in public spaces.
While the state government has not accepted TMC's charge of political bias, police have maintained that permissions are determined on administrative and law-and-order grounds.