The leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, on Friday demanded the resignation of Bengal fire services minister Sujit Bose and the arrest of the owner of the momo factory, who had allegedly accompanied chief minister Mamata Banerjee on one of her foreign trips, over the blaze at Anandapur in Calcutta on early Monday morning.
"My first demand is the resignation of the fire services minister. We are not ready to accept the arrest of guards or employees of the momo company. Police have to arrest the owner of the company who once travelled abroad with the chief minister," Adhikari said, showing a photograph of the owner with the chief minister.
"The fire minister reached the spot after 32 hours. The ED had recovered ₹65 lakh in cash from his son's restaurant. If you (Bose) have any sense of shame, you should resign and seek an apology from those families who lost their loved ones," he added.
Adhikari's attack came on a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ex gratia of ₹2 lakh for the next of kin of each deceased and ₹50,000 each to those injured in the fire mishap. Twenty-five people were feared to have died in the fire.
Union minister of state Sukanta Majumdar hailed the announcement, saying: "The honourable Prime Minister's humanitarian initiative once again proves that in any difficult time, he stands by the people of Bengal."
The leader of the Opposition said Mamata had visited Singur and taken part in a tea party. (But she did not visit the spot, even though the distance between the place and her home is barely 10km. She did not visit and will not visit the area as all those killed in the fire are Hindus," said the Nandigram MLA, before assuring that the BJP would provide financial assistance as well as legal help at Calcutta High Court to the victims' families.
According to him, the families, with the BJP’s help, would move court on Monday for a proper investigation, release of the names of those killed in the blaze, and adequate compensation.
"I demand compensation of ₹50 lakh per bereaved family immediately, along with permanent government jobs, as all those killed in the fire were young and the sole breadwinners of their families. We will take responsibility for the education of the children of those who lost their lives because of the administrative failure of the Mamata Banerjee government," said the BJP leader, who also demanded that a white paper be published on the legality of mushrooming warehouses on land falling under the East Kolkata Wetlands, where any construction is illegal.
Adhikari led a march over the incident from the Shahid Khudiram Metro station to the Narendrapur police station after obtaining permission from the court.
The Trinamool Congress criticised Adhikari and the BJP for doing politics over dead bodies, alleging that those who participated in the procession played music systems and danced.
"First of all, Suvendu Adhikari has to answer whether his march was for celebration or mourning because we saw how BJP workers were dancing with high-volume music systems. The government had taken all measures after the incident took place, and the BJP has now come forward to do politics over dead bodies," said Trinamool spokesperson Arup Chakraborty.
Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose on Friday visited the spot and took stock of the situation. He interacted with members of the forensic science laboratory team who had been investigating to detect the cause of the fire.
"Accidents are not accidental; they are the predictable outcomes of systemic rot. We already possess stringent laws governing safety precautions, yet they are frequently ignored, diluted, or bypassed through so-called ‘safety valves’, legal loopholes, and informal arrangements," the governor said.