The rally at Shahid Minar Maidan also marked the culmination of the 'Krishak Jagran Yatra', a cultural caravan which started on May Day from Naxalbari and reached Nandigram a day before the rally. Dipankar Bhattacharya, General Secretary of the CPI(ML) declared at the Rally: The Chief Minister accepted the moral responsibility for the police firing at Nandigram. But he should also take the political and administrative responsibility and tender his resignation. He indicted the CPI(M) for its betrayal of the revolutionary movement and asserted that the future of left lies in the hands of a party like CPI(ML) which has kept the red flag aloft with its determined struggles of peasants and workers. He hailed the martyrs of Nandigram who were killed resisting land grab efforts. Almost all Central Committee members of the CPI(ML) were present on this occasion. Intellectuals like Kinnor Roy (writer), Sabyasachi Dev (noted poet), Pachhu Roy (critic and writer) were also present. Nabarun Bhattacharya (noted poet and novelist) spoke on the occasion. WB State Committee member Abhijit Majumdar, Raja Ram Singh, Mrinmoy Chakraborty, Swadesh Bhattacharya, Ram Naresh Ram, and West Bengal State Secretary Kartik Pal hailed the heroic struggle launched by the people of Singur and Nandigramand exposed the ideological bankruptcy of the CPI(M)-led left front government. A contingent of people from Nandigram also participated in the Rally, and Narmada, one of the women leading the struggle there, gave a fiery speech and described the assaults which the people of Nandigram continue to face even today. The rally was presided over by Party's senior Polit Bureau member Swadesh Bhattacharya and conducted by Partha Ghosh. A cultural troupe from Andhra Pradesh staged a dance drama depicting the heroic struggle of Naxalbari while cultural activists from Bengal including Nitish Roy sang people's songs on this occasion. The CPI(ML) called upon left and democratic forces of Bengal to take side with the CPI(ML) to intensify the struggle against imperialism and for people's rights, particularly against the issue of SEZs and the corporate land grab.
