Kolkata, Feb 14 (PTI) Left-wing student organisations on Tuesday took out a rally and organised programmes to "spread the message of love" on Valentine's Day, as couples around the city celebrated the occasion with fanfare.

At Jadavpur University (JU), members of the Arts Faculty Student Union, affiliated to SFI, took part in a rally, titled 'Ghrinar Biruddhe Bhalobasar Michhil' (against hatred).

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Students, holding flags in rainbow colours, covered a distance of over two kilometres from university campus to Golpark.

Taking a dig at the BJP-led Union government over its 'Cow Hug Day' notification for Valentine's Day, which was later withdrawn, Priti Sarkar, one of the participants, said, "It goes on to show the mindset of the rightwing forces like the saffron party. No wonder their sister organisations chase couples away on finding them anywhere in public places on this day."

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"Let us learn how to love, let us fight against gender discrimination, let us fight against the move to intimidate minorities," she said.

Bajrang Dal activists reportedly drove away couples from a park in Gujarat during the day.

Echoing Sarkar, Subhankar Majumder, the general secretary of SFI in JU, called Hindutva forces "anti-science and superstitious".

"Our rally aims to spread the message of love in the face of the hate agenda peddled by Hindutva forces. Let us reject them on this day of love," he said.

In another part of the city, Anandarupa Dhar, the office-bearer of Presidency University Students' Union, said the Left organisations will "never allow moral policing by some forces".

"In the past, several outfits had tried to play spoilsport on Valentine's Day in Bengal. We will continue to resist such attempts," she asserted. Since morning, couples were seen crowding popular tourist spots like Victoria Memorial, Nalban, Eco Park, Millennium Park in the city as vendors had a busy day selling roses and gift items.

Several restaurants and cafes in the city dished out special items on the occasion.

Tram World Cafe founder Gaurav Bahri Dhawan told PTI, "We have made a separate enclosure for couples where they can enjoy privacy and savour delicacies."

Ttonnik Chai Charcha in south Kolkata, which offered heavy discounts and packages for couples, witnessed heavy footfall on Tuesday.

"Our combo offers, with options such as french fries, vegetable sandwich, cheese, lemon iced tea, chili cheese omelette and chicken spaghetti, chicken nuggets and chocolate shake, turned out to be a huge hit," said a spokesperson at the outlet.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)