Suvendu questions CM’s calamity funds claim
The Statesman | 8 October 2025“Her behaviour reflects how mentally inhuman she has become,” Mr Adhikari told reporters. He also dismissed the chief minister’s statements on the attacks on the BJP MP and MLA, saying: “Khagen Murmu’s condition is serious — a facial bone has been fractured, and doctors have said at least six weeks will be required for his full recovery with the help of traction. He is under close observation, and we may shift him to AIIMS for better treatment.”
Governor Dr CV Ananda Bose also visited the hospital and met the injured leaders earlier in the day.
Meanwhile, responding to BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya’s criticism that she should have visited the region earlier, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said at Uttarkanya: “How could I have come on Sunday when the event in Kolkata was already scheduled? Moreover, when rescue and relief work is on, how can the administration handle VIP movements at the same time?”
She further criticised the BJP for what she described as “political tourism”, saying, “They are moving around the affected areas with convoys of 30 to 40 vehicles, damaging the fragile roads even more with their traffic.”
Taking a dig at the state government, Mr Adhikari accused the chief minister of misleading the public about the central government’s stance on disaster relief funds.
“The Centre has already released more than Rs 6,000 crore from the Calamity Relief Fund to the West Bengal government,” he said, adding that voluntary organisations, as well as Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju, have been actively monitoring the situation in the region. He further said that BJP leader Biplab Deb visited the affected areas following instructions from party president JP Nadda.
Mr Adhikari, who visited the landslide-affected areas in the Hills before meeting the injured MP and MLA in Siliguri, said, “We demand a CBI or NIA investigation into the attacks. The chief minister asked Mr Murmu how the incident happened but not who attacked him. The culprits are known goons with criminal backgrounds, yet no arrests have been made so far. The complainant will move the high court tomorrow against police inaction.”
