Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday cited an anecdote connecting two of his predecessors, Jyoti Basu and Bidhan Chandra Roy, to criticise a third — — Mamata Banerjee, saying that in less than two months of assuming office he found only decay and destruction in Bengal.

“As I serve as chief minister — a tenure that has not yet completed two months — I am reminded of something former chief minister Jyoti Basu once said about Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy. After assuming office, Jyoti Basu remarked, ‘Wherever I went to begin work, I found that Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy had already started it,’” Suvendu said while speaking on National Doctors’ Day, which commemorates the birth and death anniversary of Roy.

“Today, I can candidly say that wherever I begin work, I find destruction and decay. It is between these two contrasting realities that I must move forward and restore this state,” he added while speaking at Swasthya Bhavan, the state health department headquarters.

While Roy was the state’s second chief minister, Jyoti Basu was the sixth and, so far, the longest-serving chief minister, having served Bengal uninterrupted for more than 23 years.

A source said Suvendu drew the comparison to highlight the extent of the damage he claimed hadbeen caused during theMamata regime, and the challenges his government faced in repairing it.

“He tried to convey that while predecessors like Jyoti Basu had the opportunity to build on existing development, he has found every sector in need of repair,” a BJP leader said.

Suvendu said that since being elected as an MLA for the first time in 2006, he had extensively studied Roy’s speeches. He said the deterioration of the healthcare system had caused immense suffering to thousands of poor people across the state.

He also referred to the exodus of doctors to other states and abroad amid alleged oppression.

“Visit Vellore, Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, Dr Devi Shetty’s hospital in Bengaluru, or PGI Chandigarh....you will find Bengali doctors everywhere, serving with distinction. Yet why is it that quality healthcare cannot be ensured in Bengal?” Suvendu asked.

“There has been excessive interference, suppression, political divisions, and neglect of the healthcare system. Was this desirable? I believe that, in terms of talent, West Bengal can compete not only with the best in India but with any ideal state in the world,” he added.

Although Suvendu did not mention it directly, many in the medical fraternity recalled how the alleged “threat culture” and the high-handedness of some influential people in the healthcare sector had created fear among doctors, prompting many to move to other states and abroad.

The chief minister, however, said the new government, backed by the “double-engine” administration, would ensure a free and fearless working environment for doctors in the state.

“The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita has strengthened provisions for the safety and security of doctors,” he said, claiming that the atmosphere of fear and intimidation that once prevailed had forced many doctors to refer patients elsewhere instead of treating them.

He also referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s slogan, “Bhay out, bharosa in”, to assure doctors of a secure working environment.

The chief minister described the plight of poor patients from the state who had to queue up at hospitals outside Bengal while being deprived of the benefits of Ayushman Bharat.

According to him, while patients from other states received free treatment under the scheme, patients from Bengal had to spend thousands of rupees from their own pockets because the previous government had not implemented the Centre’s health insurance scheme in the state.

“Let us all take a pledge. If we are to restore this broken system, healthcare must be our first priority. Within just one-and-a-half months, the MoU (memorandum of understanding) for Ayushman Bharat has been signed, and the scheme is now being implemented in the state,” said the chief minister, who also inaugurated several new projects, including the launch of 200 new ambulances for pregnant women and children.

Suvendu also renamed the Bidhannagar Sub-divisional Hospital after Roy.

The chief minister highlighted the condition of hospitals and medical colleges, which he claimed had deteriorated during the Trinamool Congress regime, to criticise the Mamata government.

“The condition of our hospitals became deplorable. Patients lie on beds alongside animals that should never be there. Look at the (worse) state of our hospitals, SwasthyaBhavan, and the medical colleges,” he said, assuring that the present government would rectify past shortcomings and take the health department forward.

“We must restore this department to its rightful position,” he said.