Bengal’s ruling party on Wednesday took a jab at Narendra Modi over the bridge collapse in Vadodara, reminding of the prime minister’s comment – “act of fraud” – after the Kolkata flyover collapse of March 31, 2016.

At least nine persons are feared dead after several vehicles fell into a river following the collapse of a portion of a four-decade-old bridge in Gujarat's Vadodara district on Wednesday morning.

“Double Engine. Double Disaster,” Bengal’s ruling party wrote on its X (previously Twitter) handle, posting a photograph that showed the Vadodara bridge collapse as well as the pedestrian suspension bridge collapse in Morbi, Gujarat, on October 30, 2022 in which at least 141 people died.

“Act of god or act of fraud,” the photograph asked.

It was a jab back at the prime minister, who had taunted Bengal after the Vivekananda Road flyover collapse in Kolkata.

On April 7, 2016, Modi had accused chief minister Mamata Banerjee of corruption, during a campaign rally for the BJP in north Bengal’s Birpara, and mocked her for trying to “shamelessly” blame the erstwhile Left regime for the flaws in the under-construction flyover.

“Such a huge bridge collapsed, what did these people say? They said, it is but an act of god. Didi [Mamata], this was not an act of god, but an act of fraud, fraud,” he said.

At least 26 people were killed when a part of the flyover under construction collapsed in Kolkata. An official from the construction company had dubbed it “an act of god”.

“It is an act of god in that sense, however, that the bridge collapsed during the [Assembly] election. So that it is understood what kind of a government you ran. That is why, god gave the people a message, that today, this bridge collapsed, and tomorrow, she will finish all of Bengal this way. ‘Save it [Bengal]’, that was god’s message,” Modi had added.

In Vadodara, rescue and relief operations are still on.

“Complaints against poor construction of this bridge were made since July 23',”

veteran Ahmedabad-based journalist Deepal Trivedi wrote on her X handle. “The forever fiesta organising #Gujarat government did nothing. Naming and shaming those responsible is the least the the Govt can do now. This Gujarat Model of Development, Vikas sucks.”