The Trinamul Congress and the BJP on Sunday continued to toss verbal volleys at each other over the recent bridge collapse in Mizoram that claimed the lives of 23 migrant workers from Malda.

Trinamul leaders accused governor C.V. Ananda Bose of acting at the behest of the BJP and alleged that the railways had not taken any step against those responsible for the tragic accident in Mizoram’s Sairang, where the under-construction railway bridge
fell.

The BJP blamed Trinamul for “playing politics” over the tragedy and said the state government should increase the compensation amount for the bereaved families from Rs 2 lakh.

On Sunday, state municipal affairs and urban development minister Firhad Hakim reached Malda to distribute cheques to the families of the deceased workers. At the event, Hakim criticised the governor’s Malda visit on Friday.

“He came here, handed over some cheques issued by the railways, got some photographs clicked and left. This is not the function of a governor. He is supposed to advise the government as to what should be done in such cases. But he is visiting Malda one day, and the other day he is going to North Dinajpur. The elected state government is entitled to act, and in bigger cases, the central government will act, but not the governor,” Hakim said.

Sreerupa Mitra Chaudhury, a BJP MLA from Malda and one of the state spokespersons for the party, said that instead of condoling with the victims’ families, Trinamul leaders are using “filthy vocabulary” to criticise the governor’s visit to Malda.