The Mamata All India Trinamool Congress (MAITC) on Sunday criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the death of 19 people in a Durga Puja pandal in Chorbagan, Kolkata.
“The chief secretary will write to the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court praying for an inquiry by a committee headed by a sitting judge. None of the members of the committee will be from the Kolkata police or any local government agency. The MAITC also criticised the BJP over allegations by Left parties the CPI(M), the CPI and the CPI (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation that members of Hindutva groups ransacked book stalls they had set up near puja pandals in Kolkata. The stalls were removed by the police citing lack of permission.
BJP spokesperson Sayantan Basu said, “The BJP was not involved in any such alleged incident. “It is a shame that when people were dying in the stampede at Chorbagan, police were busy removing book stalls of the Left parties in other parts of the city,” MAITC spokesperson Anirban Bandopadhyay said. The role of the local police station, the role of the Kolkata police and the role of the puja organisers are all under scanner,” Adhikari told the media on Sunday afternoon.
