Library Minister Siddiqullah Chowdhury on Saturday triggered a controversy by suggesting that the death of a woman in Malda district on Friday was due to “fate”. Chowdhury said, “She died not because of the road, but because of her fate… If the family informed us when there was still some time, we would have resolved their problem.”

State BJP spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya said, “Such insensitive people are ministers in the state.”

CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty said, “The Chief Minister will now latch on to the minister’s statement. Now, they [TMC] will say, “Because of fate, thousands of job-seekers are protesting on the roads and not due to job scams. They will say, “Partha Chatterjee and Jyoti Priya Mallick are in jail because of fate and not for indulging in corruption. We are ashamed to call them ministers.”