Four CPM-backed mass organisations are all set to roll out preparations for the 2026 Assembly elections on Sunday from the Brigade Parade Ground in Calcutta, where a rally will be held against the "anti-people policies" of the central and state governments.

It is for the first time that trade unions — the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (Citu), All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), All India Agricultural Workers' Union (AIAWU) and Paschimbanga Bustee Unnayan Samity — have given the call for a rally at Brigade Parade Ground.

Speakers at the rally are expected to question the central and state governments on a plethora of issues, including demand for scrapping of the Centre's new labour code, controlling price rise, minimum 200 days of job, halt to eviction of slum dwellers, MSP for farm produce and minimum monthly wage of ₹26,000 for working class people.

The rally that will begin at 3pm will also press for justice for the raped and murdered junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

"Poor and downtrodden people, workers and farmers have come together. From our rally at the Brigade Parade Ground, we want to send across a message to (chief minister) Mamata Banerjee and (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi that the onslaught that their governments have unleashed on the poor and working-class people would not be tolerated. Sunday's rally will set the stage for a bigger mass movement against these governments," said former MLA and state secretary of the AIAWU Nirapada Sardar, who will be one of the speakers at Sunday's rally.

The decision to organise a meeting in the "cruellest" month of April had invited criticism within the CPM. But leaders of the four trade unions expressed confidence that the turnout on Sunday would be "historic" because the challenge of braving the summer heat was far less than what the "common people, workers and farmers of this country and state have to face every day to survive".

Although the meeting is expected to set the ball rolling for the 2026 Assembly elections, critics of the party pointed to the Left's failure to convert the large turnout at previous rallies at the Brigade Parade Ground into votes.

"The Brigade Parade Ground rally that marked the culmination of the DYFI's 50-day-long Insaaf Yatra (march for justice) saw a massive turnout before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. However, despite the best efforts of Minakshi Mukherjee and her comrades to connect with the people through the Insaaf yatra, the outcome of the parliamentary elections was not positive for the CPM. More than holding mega rallies at Brigade, the need is to reach out to the people with whatever organisational resources we have at our disposal," said a senior CPM leader from East Burdwan.

A CPM insider said that the rally was in a way an effort to revive the mass organisations of the party outside the SFI, DYFI and AIDWA that had been taking lead roles in movements on the streets.

"Trade unions and peasants' organisations are key to the strength of Left parties. Since our electoral defeat in 2011, there has been criticism of the lack of movement by the trade union and farmers' front in Bengal. The last noticeable movement that the Krishak Sabha took in the state was before the 2023 rural polls. The AIKS, along with Citu and the AIAWU, undertook a pan-Bengal march with the slogan 'chor tarao, gram bachao (drive away the thief, save the village)' in November 2022. The present situation in the state and country gives enough opportunity to the Left parties to highlight the grievances of the people. Hope the Sunday rally will be the beginning and not an end in itself," said a veteran CPM leader on condition of anonymity.

As trade union members from faraway districts began to gather at the Brigade Parade Ground and the Ramlila Maidan, where arrangements have been made for their night stay, many asked whether the plight of schoolteachers and non-teaching staff and the ploy to polarise voters over the Waqf (Amendment) Act would find mention at the rally.

"Sunday's rally will also be about the plight of those who lost their jobs because of the SSC scam and against the communally divisive ploy of the Trinamool and the BJP on the Waqf issue. We have appealed to all to join this rally and fight to establish their right to roti, kapda and jobs," CPM state secretary Md Salim said while talking to reporters when he visited the meeting venue to take stock of the last-minute preparation on Saturday.