“We have started discussing the matter. We might felicitate the mother of Sidhu Soren, wife of Lalmohan Tudu and relatives of others who were killed either by the police or by armed CPM cadres. However, we are yet to take final decision on the issue. The matter will be finalised on Saturday,” said Trinamool district president Mrigen Maity.

According to Trinamool sources, the relatives of Sidhu Soren and Lalmohan Tudu have already been contacted by district party leaders. “We have collected all the details of those persons including Sidhu and Lalmohan Tudu who were killed in ‘fake encounters’. They will meet our leader Mamata Banerjee. However, the final decision on whether they will be present on the podium will be taken on Saturday after Subhendu Adhikari comes here,” the sources said.

“Mamata Banerjee has communicated a message to us regarding the matter. She has told that violence and bullets cannot be the answer to the Maoists problem. It has to be taken care of with non-violence. So meeting relatives of the deceased people and taking them into confidence is very important for us,” said a senior district Trinamool leader.

A PCAPA leader of Gohamidanga village in the Lalgarh police station area admitted, “We have taken two Trinamool leaders to the house of Sidhu as they wanted the parents of Sidhu to be present at the meeting. We have information that the wife and daughter of Lalmohan Tudu would also be present at the meeting.”

Sujato Bhadra of APDR said, “Since we cannot go and meet the relatives of the deceased civilians and PCAPA members in their village, it will be nice if they can be present in Lalgarh. We hope that the organisers have started pondering over the matter.”