KOLKATA: A five-member TMC delegation on Sunday met the families of those killed in the stampede in Asansol and extended financial assistance to them.
The delegation, led by state Industry minister Shashi Panja, said BJP leaders and local Councillor Chaitali Tiwari were responsible for the incident. She asked whether Tiwari and other BJP leaders will give answers after the death of innocent people. She said that no police permission was taken to hold the blanket distribution programme and the rally.
She also said that BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari did not visit the family members of the deceased after the incident took place. Adhikari washed off his hands after the incident. The Mamata Banerjee government had earlier announced Rs 2 lakh as compensation for each of the families of the deceased, and Rs 50,000 for the injured. Panja, during the visit, blamed local BJP leaders, including former Asansol mayor Jitendra Tewary and his Councillor wife Chaitali, for the tragedy, stating that "they had distributed tokens for blankets among 5,000 people but the venue had space to accommodate just 500 people".
"BJP leaders, in a bid to woo people and get votes, organised a programme with minimum concern for safety and security of human lives. Can they bring back the 14-year-old girl, and two other women whose deaths left their families shattered," she said.The TMC team, also comprising ministers Babul Supriyo, Partha Bhowmik and Malay Ghatak, along with TMC state youth wing president Saayoni Ghosh, were seen consoling the relatives of the deceased. Supriyo, state tourism minister who was a part of the delegation said that it was a stunt of the BJP in which many people from neighbouring Jharkhand were brought.
Seven people have been arrested for their alleged role in triggering a stampede during a blanket distribution programme.