West Bengal: Opp Slams Suvendu For No Action On His Family
State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya however called Debdeep a “minor” when asked about his role in the puja committee: Reports
KOLKATA: The Opposition has launched a large-scale indefensible attack on West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari for taking no action against his family and party members who have been found at the helm of Chorebagan Sarbojonin Durgotsob Samity following the deadly stampede at its puja mandap on Saturday evening.
The tragedy has not only turned out to be the first major disaster in the first five months of the BJP-rule in the state but has also exposed the return of nepotism culture of politicians through their Bhaipo (nephew) which was an indelible mark of the erstwhile Trinamul Congress regime of former CM Mamata Banerjee and her MP nephew Abhishek Banerjee.
Attacking the ruling party over the tragedy, TMC loyalists of Ms Banerjee accused Mr Adhikari's young nephew, Debdeep Adhikari, and his party leaders including Jorasanko MLA Vijay Ojha of “taking control” of the puja committee after “forcing” its members to quit three months before the festival.
Beleghata MLA Kunal Ghosh posted the resignation letter, signed by former general secretary Jayanta Banerjee and other office bearers of the previous puja committee, on X-handle. He also shared this year's theme poster of the ‘new’ puja committee which describes Debdeep as the chief patron and Mr Ojha as the chairman.
Among others, BJP North Kolkata district president Tamoghna Ghosh is the chief advisor, Pritam Sarkar is the cultural secretary and Raj Kumar Sewda is the general secretary. However, only Mr Sewda was arrested by the police. Incidentally, the present CM inaugurated the same puja on October 12.
Within a few days, his department, information and cultural affairs, in association with Kolkata Police and Kolkata Municipal Corporation, nominated the puja committee for Devi Durga Samman 2026 award at the third position in ‘Serar Sera’ (best of the bests) category, the top level of the competition.
On Sunday, Ms Banerjee’s followers took a swipe at the Kolkata Police, wondering, “Will @KolkataPolice take any action against the first three names or are they being protected by the illegitimate CM himself? Debdeep Adhikari - Chief Patron NEPHEW OF @SuvenduWB. Vijay Ojha - Chairman@BJP4Bengal MLA. Tamoghna Ghosh - Chief Advisor BJP District President, North Kolkata. Are they not equally responsible? The CM himself inaugurated Chorebagan Puja Pandal - did he not look into security arrangements when he visited the pandal? Won’t he be held accountable for every single life lost?”
State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya however called Debdeep a “minor” when asked about his role in the puja committee. On other hand, Mr Ojha said on his role, “As the local MLA, I'm in the puja committee like many others. I have nothing else to comment upon.”