Suvendu Adhikari hands ₹25 lakh to Chorbagan victim's family, asks 'which opposition is there?'

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari accused the opposition on Wednesday of playing politics with the Chorbagan stampede, as he handed ₹25 lakh in state compensation to the family of one of the 19 people who died.

Adhikari visited the home of Priya Samaddar in New Barrackpore, North 24 Parganas district. The crush at the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal in north Kolkata on Saturday evening killed 19 people and injured 25. The chief minister said he would visit the homes of all the victims by 24 October.

Asked about the opposition’s attacks on his government, Adhikari was dismissive. “Which opposition is there? Only the Leader of the Opposition, Ritabrata Banerjee-led faction exists,” he said. He questioned whether any opposition party had gone to the Kolkata Medical College morgue or hospital after the stampede. “Did any such opposition party go to the Kolkata Medical College morgue or the Medical College Hospital after the stampede?” he asked.

On Tuesday he met the families of Togor Bej, 37, and her son Sandip, 14, in Purba Bardhaman; Piyali Pramanik, 25, Togor Bej’s sister-in-law, in Arambagh, Hooghly; Aarti Sarkar, 45, in Chakdaha, Nadia; Sriparna Poddar, 26, in Baidyabati, Hooghly; and Akriti Raut, 17, in Liluah, Howrah.

The Trinamool Congress has kept up the pressure. Its MP Abhishek Banerjee said on Tuesday that BJP leaders holding key posts in the Chorbagan puja committee had not been arrested, and alleged that police had begun cracking down on people who questioned the government.