TMC to organise public meeting to counter Narendra Modi's rally on 16 July in West Bengal's Midnapore

Kolkata: The ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal will hold a rally to counter the one by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in West Midnapore district on 16 July, party sources said. The prime minister’s public meeting is being held about a fortnight after the one by BJP president Amit Shah in Purulia district on 28 June when the TMC had organised a counter rally on 1 July. [caption id=“attachment_2671608” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] “The date for the TMC rally in West Midnapore is not yet fixed, but it will be held either by the end of this month or in the beginning of next month,” said the party leader. “The counter rally will also be held at the same venue as that by the prime minister after TMC’s annual Martyrs’ Day programme in the city on 21 July,” he said. A senior BJP ledaer said on Saturday that Modi is likely to focus on the Centre’s decision to increase the minimum support price (MSP) of kharif crops. The saffron party has made steady inroads in various districts of West Bengal and emerged as the main opposition in the state in the May panchayat elections and bypolls. The TMC, on the other hand, under its supremo Mamata Banerjee is trying to cobble up an opposition front against the BJP government at the Centre ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.