The temperature in flood-ravaged Mirik at 12 noon on Tuesday was around 23 degrees Celsius.

But politics kept the area heated, amidst the cries for relief from the locals, many of whom lost their homes and livelihoods.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju, Bengal’s leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari were all headed to the otherwise picturesque tourist spot, around 54 kms from Siliguri, on Tuesday.

All three are headed with the same objective: assess the damage from the floods.

Plight of the people from this region has been largely over-shadowed by the attack on the BJP’s Malda North MP Khagen Murmu, currently admitted to the intensive care unit of a hospital.

Murmu and his party colleague, the Siliguri MLA Shankar Ghosh came under attack near Nagrakata, where the duo was accompanying a BJP delegation with relief materials on Monday afternoon.

“Mamata Banerjee, your attempt to whitewash your party workers’ ‘goondaism’ is as predictable as it is pathetic. While north Bengal drowned in foods, you were busy dancing and merry making with film stars,” wrote Suvendu, once among Mamata’s most trusted lieutenants, on his X. “The BJP leaders went to help victims, something your “administration” has spectacularly failed at. The Prime Minister is 100 per cent accurate. Such violence wasn’t even expected from your lowly thugs in this time of crisis. You are nothing but a ‘dictator in denial.’ Resign if you have any shame left.”

Narendra Modi had condemned the attack last night, which prompted a rebuttal from Mamata.

North Bengal turned into a BJP stronghold since the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, winning seven of the eight constituencies in the region. Two years later, nearly half of the 77 Assembly seats the BJP won came from the region.

Since then the Trinamool has been able to recover some of the lost grounds that it had gained from the Left when the party came to power in 2011. Cooch Behar Lok Sabha went the Trinamool’s way in last year’s general elections. With less than a year left for the Assembly polls, tragedies provide a platform for both the rivals to grab eyeballs.

While Mamata travelled from Siliguri to Mirik, one of the worst-affected areas where a bridge on the Mirik-Dudhia route was washed away, Rijiju, accompanied by Darjeeling MP Raju Bista, also headed there.

“I have come here to assess the damages. I will meet the affected families and those who lost their loved ones. I will report to the PM after assessing the damage,” Rijiju told reporters at Bagdogra. “The Lok Sabha Speaker sent a notice and sought a report from the state government. If there is a delay, action will be taken under Privilege Motion. This is not just about an MP or MLA, every citizen must be given security.”

After Rijiju, junior union minister and Balurghat MP Sukanta Majumdar and former Tripura chief minister and BJP’s Bengal co-minder Biplab Deb will also reach Siliguri later on Tuesday.

Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, “A BJP leader has been killed in BJP-ruled Odisha. We are waiting to hear from the prime minister.”