Mamata Banerjee’s second visit in four days to Odisha to meet the Balasore train accident victims triggered yet another round of political tussles in Bengal, with the BJP accusing her of desperation to politicise the human tragedy, and the chief minister reiterating the saffron regime’s alleged attempts to suppress facts.
The Bengal chief minister first visited patients undergoing treatment at the SCB Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack. After her meeting with the patients, although she refrained from making any comments on the CBI inquiry into the train tragedy, she insisted that truth must prevail and people should know how the accident took place and the number of people who died in the accident.
Asked to respond to the ongoing CBI inquiry, Mamata declined to comment.
“But I want the truth to come out,” she said at Cuttack.
A CBI team inspected the Bahanaga site and remained there for nearly two-and-a-half hours, collecting information to ascertain how the accident took place on Friday, involving three trains. The CBI also registered a case.
“I don’t want to say anything (political). At this time, we must work for the people, be with the people, help the families, and the truth must come out, it must not be suppressed,” added the Trinamul Congress chief, who had visited the accident site on Saturday. “I said truth must come out, it must… let good sense prevail.”
Mamata arrived at the Biju Patnaik Airport in the afternoon along with her team from Calcutta. Although there was bad weather and sporadic rains, she flew to Cuttack in a chopper from Bhubaneswar to save time.
The chopper carrying Mamata landed at a field ofthe Ravenshaw University. From there, she drove straight to the SCB Medical College, 1.5km away, where 53 people of Bengal are undergoing treatment. She had brought fruits for the injured.
Bengal finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharya and industry minister Shashi Panja visited AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, and enquired about how the bodies are being dispatched and how the DNA samples are being preserved.
In the wake of the tragedy, Mamata has repeatedly been attacked by the BJP and other constituents of the saffron ecosystem, while she has been emphasising the need to ascertain the real reasons for the incident instead of attempts at politicisation, suppressing facts, and blame-shifting.
In response to a question on whether she thinks the tragedy could have been a case of sabotage, the former railway minister said: “I am not saying anything right now.”
Mamata raised questions on how Bengal’s death toll kept rising (from 31 on Saturday to 81 on Sunday, to 103 on Tuesday), while the total death count saw a downward revision. The Odisha government on Tuesday said the death toll was 288, of whom 205 were identified.
Mamata not only talked to the patients and inquired about their health but also interacted with the doctors and staff of the SCB Medical College. She did the same, later in the afternoon, for the 60-odd patients admitted at the Midnapore Medical College and Hospital, on returning to Bengal.
Back in Bengal, BJP leaders pulled no punches in their attack on Mamata, for deciding to visit Odisha again. They also bitterly criticised her for an event scheduled for Wednesday, at the Netaji Indoor Stadium, where she will distribute compensatory cheques, appointment letters, and other benefits to families affected by the Balasore tragedy.
“The families have not yet been able to mourn the death of their kin, and they are being forced to come to Calcutta for this event…. At the event, the chief minister will abuse the Prime Minister, the BJP, the Union government and Ashwiniji (Vaishnaw). For that, these affected families are forcibly being brought here. This is shameful,” said leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari.
BJP state unit chief Sukanta Majumdar said that the Centre will send its compensation of Rs 10 lakh through direct bank transfers, and asked why the state cannot do the same.
“How can a chief minister stoop so low just for votes?” asked Majumdar.
Additional reporting by Arkamoy Datta Majumdar