The Kolkata Durga Puja pandal stampede that left at least 19 dead and 25 injured on Saturday might have dealt a blow to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), although West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari ordered a probe and arrests, raising questions about accountability under his five-month-old government.
Earlier reporting noted: The allegations came even as seven people were arrested and chief minister Suvendu Adhikari announced the formation of a Special Investigation Team headed by a sitting judge of the Calcutta high court to probe the stampede. But he is not the only one. Meanwhile, the BJP state president made no statement on the Chore Bagan incident till Sunday noon, while the government imposed a limit on the number of revellers allowed to enter big-budget pujas like Suruchi Sangha following the stampede. “Ours is a small-budget puja but the old committee president, secretary and treasurer were made to resign and a new committee was formed. In our ward, the daughter of a businessman has put up posters outside a nearby puja pandal, claiming to be a patron of the event. State BJP spokesperson Ritesh Tiwari defended his colleagues. “For decades, TMC MLAs and ministers such as Partha Chatterjee, Aroop Biswas and Firhad Hakim have been closely associated with community Durga Pujas. Before that, veteran Congress leader Somem Mitra was also associated with pujas. What is wrong if some BJP leaders are associated with some pujas? “It is not the BJP’s puja.
Bhattacharya’s post came after former Trinamool cabinet minister Aroop Biswas and his brother Swarup Biswas were removed from the committee of the famous Suruchi Sangha Durga Puja in south Kolkata’s Tollygunge, and Saurav Sikadar, the BJP MLA from Dum Dum North (in North 24 Parganas district), was made the new committee secretary on July 12. “With the number of Kolkata’s municipal wards increased from 144 to 209 on the basis of population density during the post-May delimitation, the BJP has to find acceptable candidates. After the BJP won only 77 seats, many in the saffron camp distanced themselves from the puja. BJP does not organise pujas,” the state unit’s former president Dilip Ghosh said on October 4, 2021.
Because vijay Ojha, our Jorasanko MLA, became the chairman of the Chore Bagan Sarbojanin Durgatsav Samity in July, “Our party landed in the crosshairs of the opposition.
Many BJP MLAs and ministers in Bengal are associated with community puja committees,” a BJP MLA said, requesting anonymity. We got our puja grant from the government after that,” a member of a puja committee in the Lake police station area said, requesting anonymity. We have been told she may contest the KMC election on a BJP ticket,” the puja committee president said. The chief minister has ordered a probe and the police have arrested several people,” Tiwari, who is also the MLA from Kolkata’s Kashipur-Belgachhia constituency, said.
Earlier reporting noted: The Mamata All India Trinamool Congress (MAITC) alleged the puja committee – Chore Bagan Sarbojanin Durgatsav Samity – has links to Adhikari’s nephew Debdeep Adhikari and sought to know when he would be arrested. Earlier reporting noted: Kolkata stampede: Mamata faction alleges Durga Puja pandal panel has ‘links’ to CM’s nephew, BJP hits back The Opposition on Sunday targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in West Bengal over the deadly stampede inside a Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata, alleging attempts are being made to shield the organisers, most of whom are from the ruling party.
