Overview
- A limited protest at Sealdah was led by MLAs Kunal Ghosh, Nayana Bandyapadhyay and Madan Mitra and drew only a handful of party workers and supporters, according to reports on May 21.
- Planned parallel demonstrations at Howrah and Ballygunge did not proceed after police refused permission or the party failed to secure clearance, with authorities citing a chief minister event in Howrah.
- The weak street showing followed an Assembly sit-in where nearly 45 TMC MLAs stayed away, a pattern that underlines the party’s reduced legislative strength of roughly 80 seats and rising organisational strain.
- TMC leaders presented the protests as a defence of hawkers who they say are being evicted without rehabilitation and accused the new BJP-led administration of misusing power in the post-election period.
- The combination of low turnout, denied permissions and MLA absenteeism cuts the party’s immediate ability to mobilise workers on short notice and raises the risk that hawkers’ livelihoods will receive less public protection unless TMC rebuilds its on-the-ground networks.