Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari accuses opposition of politicising Chorbagan stampede

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday accused opposition parties of politicising the Chorbagan Durga Puja stampede instead of standing by the victims and the injured.

Adhikari made this remark during his visit to the residence of Priya Samaddar, one of the 19 victims, in the New Barrackpore area of North 24 Parganas district and handed over Rs 25 lakh as compensation from the state government to her bereaved family.

Nineteen people were killed and 25 injured in a stampede at the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal in north Kolkata on Saturday evening.


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Asked about criticism by opposition parties, including the Trinamool Congress, over the government's handling of the situation and police arrangements at the stampede-hit puja pandal, Adhikari questioned their response to the tragedy.

"Which opposition is there? Only the Leader of the Opposition, Ritabrata Banerjee-led faction exists," he said.

Suggesting that the Trinamool Congress and other opposition parties, including the CPI(M), had lost their relevance, Adhikari asked, "Did any such opposition party go to the Kolkata Medical College morgue or the Medical College Hospital after the stampede?"

Adhikari said he would visit the residences of all the victims by October 24.

On Tuesday, Adhikari visited the family of the mother-son duo -- Togor Bej (37) and Sandip (14), in Purba Bardhaman district, followed by the kin of Piyali Pramanik (25) in Hooghly district's Arambagh. Pramanik was the sister-in-law of Togor Bej.

Read more: Chorbagan tragedy could have been averted if Adhikari government had made proper planning: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury

He also visited the families of Aarti Sarkar (45) in Nadia district's Chakdaha, Sriparna Poddar (26) in Hooghly's Baidyabati, and Akriti Raut (17) in Howrah's Liluah.

TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday questioned why BJP leaders holding key posts in the Chorbagan Durga Puja committee had not been arrested after the stampede, and alleged that police have begun a crackdown on those questioning the BJP government's actions.