Kolkata, Oct 26 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Monday said that his government will not shield anyone responsible for the stampede at the Chorebagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata, in which 19 people were killed.
“This is the new West Bengal. The government will not shield anyone responsible for such incidents. We will not term any incident as a small incident or bring conspiracy theories,” the Chief Minister said.
The Chief Minister also sought advice to complete cultural events smoothly in the future and prevent a repeat of the Chorebagan incident.
He promised to organise all the festivals smoothly in the future.
The Chief Minister expressed grief over the Chorebagan incident while attending the Vijaya Sammilani programme at the Milan Mela premises on Monday.
Taking a dig at the previous government, he said that this time no one had to go to the High Court to perform Durga puja.
Suvendu Adhikari alleged that earlier, the microphone could not be played at a specific time and that immersion would not take place along a specific route. The Chief Minister, however, is reluctant to blame any community for this.
He claimed that these incidents used to take place due to the failures of the previous government.
“It is the responsibility of the government to protect the religion. People have understood this. Taking lessons from the Chorebagan incident, special precautionary measures are being taken during Chhath Puja, Jagaddhatri and Kartik Pujas. The puja committees and administration need to be alert in advance,” he said.
After the Chorebagan incident, there was a controversy over the transfer of 25 injured people from the government hospital to a private hospital. The Chief Minister responded to that controversy on Monday.
He said that no one was kept in the government hospital due to ego. It was possible to send everyone home after getting treatment in a private hospital.
He said, “There is no failure here. The service in the private hospital is better than the service in the government hospital. I did not keep them in the government hospital due to ego, arrogance, or saying, ‘Hum kisi se kam nehi.'”
–IANS
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