. In times like this, from where did political parties and politicians get the moral courage to hold such huge rallies in West Bengal?
Dilip Ghosh: This trend started last May, and was started by the TMC. Mamata Banerjee has never acknowledged any lockdown. Hence, the term âlockdownâ became a farce in the state. The state government fudged the data of COVID cases and deaths. The place where we are right now, in last May, a TMC district president had organised a rally of 20,000 people, without any restrictions. Then the trend began. We also followed suit. Then we also held public meetings, rallies and door-to-door campaigns. We geared up for the polls. And that is continuing.Â