Calcutta, Feb. 19: The CPM today launched an all-out attack on Mamata Banerjee’s model of governance at its first rally in Brigade as an Opposition party after 34 years in power.

The estimate on turnout varied — 15 lakh by CPM and 1.3 lakh by Calcutta Police — but the audience erupted every time the speakers criticised the nine-month-old government.

Although the speakers dwelt on different issues — from Trinamul’s silence on anti-people policies of the Centre to regular attacks on CPM supporters — the thrust in all the speeches was the chief minister’s alleged failure in delivering on governance.

“We are not in power. There has been a change in West Bengal…. But what has happened with this change?” asked former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, indicating that the party will intensify its attack on the government.

After coming to power, Mamata had asked the Opposition not to criticise the new government for at least 10 years.

Although the CPM leaders maintained silence on government affairs in the first few months, they raised the pitch today and Bhattacharjee was leading from the front.

Surjya Kanta Mishra, leader of the Opposition in the Assembly complimented the former chief minister. While Bhattacharjee was talking about the failures of the government, Mishra focused on the state of administration.

“This is a one-person government…. Others are immaterial as they don’t know when their wings will be clipped,” said Mishra, who drew the loudest applause from the audience with his pointed barbs at Mamata.

It was the first big meeting of CPM since it faced a rout in the Assembly polls last year. Several CPM leaders had admitted in private that they were not expecting much from today’s meeting as the organisation strength had depleted in the villages in the last few months.

The turnout, however, came as a surprise and that set the tone for the meeting. Biman Bose, party secretary in Bengal, Prakash Karat, party general secretary, and Md Amin, party’s politburo member, also spoke at the meeting, organised as part of CPM’s 23rd state conference. The party held its last state conference as an opposition party in Midnapore in 1972.

As the main speaker at the rally, Bhattacharjee rolled out the action agenda and told the supporters to go back to farmers, agricultural labourers, workers in mills and factories and the workers in the unorganised sector.

From the collapse of the panchayat system to deterioration in health care and failure in paying salaries to employees of transport corporations and impending trouble in the power sector — his 21-minute speech tore apart the new regime.