The Bengal BJP and the State administration on Monday pointed fingers at each others a day after a tent collapsed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting at Midnapore injuring about 90 people even as a Central team led by a PMO joint secretary and senior SPG officials arrived at the town to conduct a probe into the matter.
The police administration lodged non-bailable charges against the decorator, contractor and organisers (read the saffron leadership) while the State BJP accused the district police administration for failing to discharge its duty leading to the tragic accident and threatened to lodge a case against the Midnapore administration and the police.
“We would not shirk our liability in so far as our failure to gauge beforehand the expected turnout which itself was a cause for the accident, but the actual responsibility lay with the district administration and the police as they failed to discharge their duties,” said senior State BJP leader Sayantan Basu.
“The party had informed the District Magistrate about the Prime Ministers’ rally many days in advance, even then the police did not bother to take interest and release advisories — on various aspects of such large meetings which they as professional force are more competent than us to formulate — on the meeting,” said the BJP leader.
No police men were around when the accident happened, he said alleging that while the Prime Minister himself was seen controlling crowd through mass address system, no policeman was there to do their job. “Even after the
Prime Minister rushed to the hospital where the victims were being taken the DM and the SP were nowhere to be seen. In fact the DM reached the hospital an hour later,” Basu said.
The district administration which is equipped with professionals should have advised the organisers as it was Prime Minister’s meeting, the BJP leaders said accusing the police administration not only of non-cooperation but also of aggression. “They even lathi-charged our volunteers who were rescuing the victims,” said Midnapore district BJP president.
Rejecting the BJP’s claims the Trinamool Congress said, “The police was not in fault as the SPG had taken control of the Midnapore College ground where the meeting was scheduled to take place seven days in advance. They should ask such questions from the SPG.”
Meanwhile, a central team led by senior PMO official A Bhatnagar and some senior SPG officers on Tuesday met top police officers at Midnapore where they discussed about the reasons that led to the accident, sources said.
The team inquired about the condition of the iron structures that were used for raising the tent and other precautions that should have been taken by the contractors, sources said.