Kolkata: With an aim to mobilise the grassroots, the CPI(M)-led Left Front’s rally at the Brigade Parade Ground on Sunday marked the formal launch of its campaign for the 2026 Bengal Assembly elections.
The Left aimed to galvanise its traditional base — workers, farmers, sharecroppers and urban poor — while attracting voters affected by economic challenges and communal tensions. The rally was notably led by grassroots leaders rather than high-profile figures, a deliberate choice to highlight the Left’s renewed focus on local, sector-specific movements. CPI(M) state secretary Md Salim, among other speakers, highlighted job losses, particularly in the informal sector, and criticised the Trinamool Congress government’s handling of industrial stagnation and unemployment. Salim assured that the Left will fight for every workers’ right to dignity and employment. In the wake of the recent Murshidabad violence over Waqf Amendment Act protests, the rally condemned communal unrest, implicitly targeting the BJP’s “polarising tactics” and TMC’s “inconsistent stance” on minority issues.
Salim emphasised the Left’s commitment to secularism. “Bengal’s strength lies in its unity. The BJP sows hatred and the TMC does politics with faith. Left stands for Bengal where all communities thrive together,” he said. Political experts opined that Sunday’s rally reveals the Left’s grassroots-centric campaign.
The prominence of grassroots leaders at the rally reflects a strategic pivot toward localised campaigns to rebuild the party’s base among rural and urban poor through sustained mass struggles. Such an approach aims to convert rally enthusiasm into electoral support, addressing the disconnect observed in past elections where large gatherings did not yield votes.