West Bengal CM blames Trinamool regime for warehouse tragedy

A political war of words broke out in West Bengal over the Taratala depot collapse, with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari accusing the erstwhile Trinamool Congress regime of irregularities and corruption that led to such a tragedy.

“Taking money everywhere has turned the City of Joy into the City of Death. [accident] In his speech in the State Assembly, the Prime Minister stated that former Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim also signed the design of the collapsed warehouse and said, “No one will be spared.”

The collapse of a warehouse under construction in Kolkata killed 11 people, and the Prime Minister has repeatedly pointed out that the construction plan was flawed. During his speech in the Assembly, Mr. Adhikari said that no construction plan was passed without the ‘kali’ signature from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. The Chief Minister was referring to Kalicharan Banerjee, who was Special Officer to former Mayor Firhad Hakim.

“Don’t we know what’s going on in KMC? If Kali gets caught [arrested] everything will be revealed. No plan was approved without ‘Kali’. Everyone knows that Kali was assigned to Camac Street. This Kali is building your Trinamool Bhavan next to the ring road for ₹200 crore. He takes the money from here and sends it there. We know everything, we have learned everything,” the Prime Minister said. Later in the day, Kolkata Police arrested Kalicharan Banerjee in the Taratala warehouse collapse case.

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This development puts Calcutta Port MLA and former Mayor Firhad Hakim in a difficult situation. Mr Hakim has shifted his allegiance from Mamata Banerjee to the rebel MLA group led by Opposition Leader Ritabrata Banerjee. Mr Hakim has also tried to warm up to the BJP regime by heaping praise on Suvendu Adhikari and was recently seen lecturing the newly elected BJP MPs on State Assembly procedures.

In the Prime Minister’s speech, a reference was also made to Camac Street, where Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee operates. Sources close to Mr. Banerjee said that an FIR was registered against Kalicharan Banerjee during the Trinamool regime.

Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee loyalist and MLA Kunal Ghosh said that the former Mayor should be arrested if he was involved in corruption. Another leader of the Trinamool Congress, Mahua Moitra, said that the Prime Minister claimed that the construction plan bore the signature of former Mayor Firhad Hakim, and at the same time, he was considered among the leaders of the group of 65 MLAs.

“This raises questions of double standards. Opposition leaders are immediately arrested for minor incidents, but no similar action has been taken in a case related to the deaths of 11 people,” the Trinamool MP said.