The turnout was predictable. West Bengal's first woman Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ousted the CPI(M)from power exactly one year ago, on 13 May, 2011. On Sunday evening, Mamata took a bow, walking with her MPs and party men all the way from Hazra, in south Kolkata to Rajabazar in the east- to commemorate the victory of the Trinamool Congress over the CPI(M) one year ago and the completion of a year in government. Her supporters filled the streets and cheered.
The rally kickstarted from Hazra crossing around 4 pm and was initially being led by the state sports minister Madan Mitra. Then came a tableaux, followed by the Chief Minister herself, who smiled and waved to the lakh-plus crowd who had filled up the streets to get a glimpse of their beloved Didi. Also spotted at the rally were Trinamool Congress leaders like Subrata Bakshi and Arup Biswas.
Trinamool MP Shatabdi Roy was busy attending the myriad events celebrating 60 years of Indian Parliament in New Delhi but told Millennium Post about Mamata's biggest achievement in one year, ‘I think this government has kept its promise of working for the common man. Didi is also doing enough for the film industry in Bengal. All the shabby studios are being renovated’.
Trinamool MP from Kanthi, Sisir Adhikari, also rattled off a list of achievements in the rural sector by the Mamata government. ‘In the zilla courts, the number of cases has gone down. In the 100-day work scheme, Rs 200 crore has been spent in every district, 18,000 ponds have been dug and 20,000 metric tonnes of rice produced. If this is not development, what is?’ he told Millennium Post.
Though the TMC government has been rocked by some controversies, Mamata has just got a big thumbs up from the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for ‘ousting’ the Left Front from power after a 34-year-long stint. Sunday, however, was a day when the public decided to forget the hiccups and raised a toast to the new government's year-long journey
The rally kickstarted from Hazra crossing around 4 pm and was initially being led by the state sports minister Madan Mitra. Then came a tableaux, followed by the Chief Minister herself, who smiled and waved to the lakh-plus crowd who had filled up the streets to get a glimpse of their beloved Didi. Also spotted at the rally were Trinamool Congress leaders like Subrata Bakshi and Arup Biswas.
Trinamool MP Shatabdi Roy was busy attending the myriad events celebrating 60 years of Indian Parliament in New Delhi but told Millennium Post about Mamata's biggest achievement in one year, ‘I think this government has kept its promise of working for the common man. Didi is also doing enough for the film industry in Bengal. All the shabby studios are being renovated’.
Trinamool MP from Kanthi, Sisir Adhikari, also rattled off a list of achievements in the rural sector by the Mamata government. ‘In the zilla courts, the number of cases has gone down. In the 100-day work scheme, Rs 200 crore has been spent in every district, 18,000 ponds have been dug and 20,000 metric tonnes of rice produced. If this is not development, what is?’ he told Millennium Post.
Though the TMC government has been rocked by some controversies, Mamata has just got a big thumbs up from the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for ‘ousting’ the Left Front from power after a 34-year-long stint. Sunday, however, was a day when the public decided to forget the hiccups and raised a toast to the new government's year-long journey