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.
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.
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.
Also read | ‘Pandal will collapse, please leave’: Warning over mic set off Kolkata stampede, 19 dead
MAITC spokesperson and Kolkata MLA Kunal Ghosh alleged the administration had failed to prevent the stampede and called on the organisers to take responsibility.
“This accident is a complete failure of the administration, and the concerned Puja Committee must take responsibility for it. There are many influential individuals involved, but right now, we are at the hospital. Since yesterday evening, our priority has been relief work and medical treatment,” he said.
He alleged the chief minister’s statement was “incomplete, an evasion of responsibility, misleading, and an attempt to divert attention”. “The committee's officials must be arrested immediately. The municipal corporation and OSD must be removed. An impartial investigation is needed. The committee is filled with BJP members. They are being shielded. It didn't rain for the first time today. Blaming just the rain is an attempt to cover up administrative failure," he said.
The stampede occurred around 7.30pm on Saturday at Chor Bagan, one of the city’s most popular Durga Puja venues, in cramped north Kolkata, as crowds jostled through a narrow bylane on Saptami, the seventh day of the festival, even as rain lashed the city and left the streets slippery.
Ghosh posted a purported letter by the Chore Bagan Sarbojanin – the puja committee organiser – on X, alleging the panel’s previous members were forced to step down after the BJP came to power in May.
“In Chorbagan, the previous committee was forced to resign, and a new committee 'took over'. Take a look at the resignation letter from the former committee and see who the members of the new committee are,” he said in a post in Bengali on X.
Also read | Kolkata Durga Puja pandal stampede kills 19, organisers among 7 arrested
The purported letter by Jayanta Banerjee, the general secretary of the old committee, on July 17 said he and seven other committee members were stepping down. HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the letter.
Chore Bagan is a part of the Jorasanko Assembly constituency, which BJP's Jijay Ojha won in May after defeating TMC's Vijay Upadhyay.
Ojha is the chairman of the new committee. Speaking to reporters after visiting the spot on Sunday, he said: "I am also on the committee. The chief minister has ordered a probe.”
Asked if he was aware that the entry and exit routes to this year's pandal appeared to be too narrow as per safety standards, he said he was not aware of it.
MAITC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said allegations were raised about chief minister Adhikari’s nephew’s purported link with the puja committee. He also alleged the involvement of BJP’s north Kolkata unit president Tamoghna Ghosh in the puja pandal arrangements.
"When are you putting the guilty nephew in jail Suvendu babu?" Banerjee said in a post on Facebook.
Raising doubts that Ojha, Ghosh and the chief minister's nephew would likely be spared, Banerjee said Adhikari must carry out his constitutional role as an administrator.
Hitting back, state BJP spokesperson and MLA from the adjacent Kashipur-Belgachhia constituency Ritesh Tiwari said: “I do not know if any relative of the chief minister is linked to the puja committee but even if he was, would he ever want such a tragedy to take place under his watch?”
He added: "For decades, TMC leaders such as Partha Chatterjee, Aroop Biswas and Firhad Hakim have been closely associated with the community Durga Pujas. Some BJP leaders may also have been associated with some pujas. What is wrong with that?”
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi also condemned the incident and called for a fair probe. “The news of the stampede at the Chorbagan Puja pandal in Kolkata is extremely heartbreaking. Reports indicate that several people have lost their lives in this tragedy, and a large number of people have been injured. My deepest condolences to the families of the deceased. I pray for the swift recovery of the injured,” he said in a post on X.
“I appeal to the administration to ensure that all the injured receive immediate and proper medical treatment, and that a fair investigation into this incident is conducted so that such a tragedy is never repeated in the future. I appeal to Congress workers to provide every possible assistance in the relief efforts,” he added.
BJP MLA Sajal Ghosh said “it would be premature to pinpoint exactly where the error lies”. “We must acknowledge that mistakes can occur. Had it not been for the rain, perhaps we would not have had to face such an incident. Regardless, there is no attempt to hide anything,” he said.