Rush and negligence were to blame for the Vivekananda Road flyover crash on March 31, claiming 26 lives, Trinamul minister Sadhan Pande said on Wednesday.

"The nuts and bolts were welded. These should have been replaced. To do this work hurriedly is extremely sad... the welding was done in a rush," the consumer affairs minister, seeking re-election from Maniktala, told ABP Ananda.

The rush finger can only point at Mamata Banerjee as the chief minister had at the inauguration of a Jagaddhatri Puja in Posta last November announced that the flyover would be opened by February. Engineers involved with the project had then said that rush could compromise quality work and safety norms.

But the Firhad Hakim-led CMDA had pushed the fast forward button as the chief minister wanted to earn some brownie points from north Calcutta in poll season.

The urban development minister's role in the project was also called into question by his colleague on Wednesday, who suggested that he should have been more vigilant. "The CMDA or the state government department should have checked the design issues," he said.

Hakim hit back at Pande when Metro contacted him late on Wednesday: "Had he (Pande) not said this, he wouldn't have been on TV.... Two CMDA engineers have been suspended and a probe is on. But he (Pande) seems to know already what caused the collapse."

According to some local residents, Pande had read the public mood and was trying to distance himself from the CMDA and Trinamul's syndicate raj. That prompted him to even take a swipe at Trinamul-linked sub-contractors like Rajat Baksi - cousin of party leader Sanjay Baksi, whose wife Smita is seeking re-election from Jorasanko - who were supplying labourers for the project.

"The contractor would get more money. The contractor has engaged men. If men are made to sit, then the contractor would lose money," Pande said, trying to explain the reason behind the rush.

This is not the first time Pande has embarrased the party by mirroring the public mood rather than the party line. He was suspended from the Trinamul Congress after taking a contrary stand on Singur. He later apologised and was taken back into the party.