Some vehicles were also moving along the stretch of the expressway blocked since August 24 due to the indefinite dharna.

About 4,000 trucks carrying perishable and essential commodities were stranded on the expressway for the last nine days, unable to reach Kolkata.

The 76-km expressway is a part of NH-2 connecting Delhi with Kolkata.

The West Bengal government has said it would not like to use force to lift the blockade on the expressway and favoured resolving the problem through discussions as the authorities of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) visited the blocked stretch and discussed the situation with the Hooghly district administration.

Agitators continued to block the main entry points of the Tata car factory.

A Tata Motors spokesperson said in Kolkata "conditions are still not conducive here for resuming our work. We continue to assess the situation closely."

Braving occasional rains, hundreds gathered near the main dharna dais as the TC chief was scheduled to address a rally of small retailers to demand that big industrial houses not enter the retail sector.

Meanwhile, film actor Aparna Sen, theatre personality Saonli Mitra and Kishwar Jahan, mother of computer graphics teacher Rizwanur Rehman, who died a mysterious death after his marriage to the daughter of a wealthy Hindu industrialist, joined Banerjee at the dharna.