Even as the state government granted permission for holding the rally in Jhargram under special provisions where Section 144 has been imposed, it will be a challenge for Banerjee to conduct a successful rally in the Maoist den.

The People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) will boycott the rally on January 15. The PCAPA has already started a campaign against Banerjee and her party in the entire Jungalmahal and Lalgarh areas and asked villagers not to attend the rally.

“Banerjee is an opportunist politician. She is coming here only to get political mileage before the Assembly elections. She is demanding deployment of the Army against the poor tribals in Lalgarh and Jungalmahal. No one will attend her rally,” PCAPA leader Asit Mahato told The Indian Express.

Mahato, who is leading the PCAPA after the arrest of tribal leader Chhatradhar Mahato last year, also said: “Banerjee may hold the rally at Jhargram. But there will be nobody to listen to her, except her own party leaders. We don’t want to hear her. She did nothing to protect the tribal women in Lalgarh and Jhargram who are being tortured everyday by the jawans of the paramilitary forces.”

Recently, Banerjee had slammed the Maoists saying that they had no moral right to kill people and even hold courts of law to punish innocent tribals. “Who are the Maoists to judge people and convict them and kill them,” she asked, adding that the Indian Constitution provides everything and it is only the Indian judiciary which is entitled to hear criminal proceedings against anyone and pass verdict. The Railway Minister had also challenged the Maoists and asked them to face her politically instead of carrying out subversive activities on railway tracks and killing innocent railway passengers.

The Trinamool Congress, meanwhile, plans to go ahead with the rally and is gearing up to meet the challenge. Trinamool MP from Tamluk and Banerjee’s strongman in East Midnapore district, Subhendu Adhikari said: “This is a democratic country and we will go ahead with the rally with full support of the people at Jhargram on January 15. We will speak about CPM’s oppression as well as the politics of violence.”