In what could be considered a frightening scene for Mamata Banerjee a BJP delegation led by Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday managed to galvanise a large crowd --- at Khiderpore a veritable Trinamool Congress den adjacent to the Muslim dominated Kolkata Port area --- nearly twice as big as the one that came to hear out the Bengal Chief Minister for her version of the devastating fire at Khiderpore locality that engulfed more than a thousand shops.
On Monday afternoon Banerjee came to inspect the extent of devastation caused by a mid-Sunday night fire at the colonial Orphanganj market and allegedly had to digest some dissenting voices from the crowd that claimed the fire was a sabotage.
Adhikari received thunderous applause from the overwhelming crowd that assembled in no time as he said that the “fire was man made because the interests of TMC politicians are involved here.”
He said “the TMC Government had decided to accommodate the rich who would open shopping malls here by setting ablaze the dreams and livelihood of the poor businessmen who have been running their shops for generations … and all this for a meagre Rs 1 lakh,” when many of the traders complained that they had lost not only lakhs but crores to the blaze.
The Chief Minister on Monday visited the area and said that “a place has already been earmarked for your rehabilitation with proper fire fighting system … besides we will provide Rs 1 lakh to the affected shopkeepers,” leading to a furor among the local traders hitherto known for their unflinching allegiance towards the Chief Minister.
“We are by your side … the BJP will fight your cause both legally and otherwise and will not let their conspiracy materialise at the cost of your interest,” Adhikari on Tuesday said followed by loud cheers from the crowd that had gathered.
Incidentally it has been the same Khiderpore Garden Reach area that had been voting for the Chief Minister and her party for the past 15-16 years.
Contrary to the established politics the Chief Minister was received with hooting calls from the trader citizenry --- after she announced her rehabilitation package “in a nearby land which has already been earmarked” for the affected shopkeepers.
About 1,300 shops were gutted in the fire behind which the locals saw the hands of the builder mafia and the ruling Trinamool Congress. Curiously the fire brigade took two hours to traverse two km in the midnight to douse the flames, locals complained.
The locals alleged the Government had already struck a deal with a top business house of the country “for which it was necessary to consign the colonial market and livelihood of the shopkeepers to flames.” Minister and Mayor Firhad Hakim however vehemently rejected the charge saying the Government would get the market constructed again for the traders.
“I have three gowdowns and have lost more than Rs 3-4 crores and here she is dangling Rs 1 lakh to us … we all know the reason behind this fire on Sunday night … ask anyone and they will tell you how talks are on with one of the country’s leading brands to set up malls and complexes here,” another trader said adding “this is the reason why this land was taken away from the South 24 Parganas district administration and given to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.”