The leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, on Thursday reiterated his “manmade” allegation regarding the Orphangunge market fire and hinted that realty interests backed by the ruling dispensation had motivated the alleged crime.
The charge, raised by Adhikari in the Assembly, was denied outright by urban development minister Firhad Hakim, who is also the Calcutta mayor.
“Twelve major fire incidents have occurred in Calcutta over the past few days. Were these fires accidents, were they set?” asked Adhikari, wondering whether they were merely unfortunate tragedies caused accidentally or whether there was sabotage involved to aid new construction at the sites.
“In many such cases, those vast plots of land are going into the hands of the land mafia and promoters. Appropriate measures should be taken against all this.”
The leader of the Opposition underscored that over 150 people had died in fire tragedies during the 14-year rule of the Trinamool Congress.
Replying to the ‘calling attention motion’ by Adhikari, Hakim ruled out such a possibility, saying that there were no real estate activities exactly at fire-ravaged sites.
“There has never been an incident in Calcutta, or anywhere in the state, where promoting was done at the same spot after a fire. There is no instance where a large building came up in the same place after a fire. On the contrary, there have been many problems we have faced while rehabilitating the victims of fire tragedies,” said the minister.
Adhikari has been claiming that the Orphangunge fire was “manmade” and linked to a real estate-related nexus involving the Trinamool dispensation. Sources in the BJP have pointed out how Adhikari was turning the tables on his former mentor, Mamata Banerjee, who had popularised the term “manmade” since her days in the Opposition and continues to use it for natural and other disasters where the saffron camp could be blamed.
With regard to the Orphangunge fire, however, CPM state secretary Md. Salim had virtually echoed Adhikari.
The Nandigram MLA went on to seek a substantial increase in the number of fire service stations in Bengal, pointing out there were only 130 fire stations, while at least 2,000 were needed.
Referring to the Orphangunge incident, Adhikari demanded a standard operating procedure for dealing with such incidents and taking preventive measures. Hakim said a committee — chaired by him — had already been formed by the state government, with police and fire services officers, and that a standard operating procedure would be made. However, he added, the people also need to be more conscious and take adequate preventive precautions.
Speeches expunged
Speaker Biman Banerjee on Thursday expunged the speeches of two BJP MLAs after they, along with others in their legislature party, staged a walkout immediately after participating in a discussion on the West Bengal Sales Tax (Settlement of Disputes) (Amendment) Bill, 2025.
The Bill was passed by voice vote of the Treasury benches after finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said the changes aimed to benefit both the tax assessee and the state government.
Calling the walkout “uncivil” and “unfortunate”, Speaker Banerjee expunged the speeches made by the BJP’s Balurghat MLA Ashok Lahiri and Kalyani MLA Ambika Roy. The Speaker said according to the rules that govern the House, members cannot leave immediately after delivering their speeches.
Opposition chief whip Sankar Ghosh said the walkout was in protest against inadequate time given to the BJP MLAs to study the Bill. He lambasted the Speaker for the allegedly undemocratic decision that he tagged “unprecedented”.
Shankar’s dharna
Sankar Ghosh, Siliguri BJP MLA, sat on a dharna in front of Dr B.R. Ambedkar’s statue in the Assembly, accusing the state administration of not utilising the funds from his MLA Local Area Development (LAD) allocation despite repeated appeals. Ghosh said he did not receive a reply to a letter he had written to the chief minister regarding the issue, and he threatened to launch a larger movement if the matter was not resolved.
