It's not the best of times for Trinamool Congress supremo and Chief Minister of West Bengal Assembly Elections 2016, Mamata Banerjee.
The buzz around the Narada news video -- allegedly showing ministers, MLAs and MPs from the ruling Trinamool taking cash for extending favours to a fictitious company --was just about dying down when disaster struck Thursday afternoon in one of the most congested areas of the city; the 2.2 km under-construction Vivekananda Road flyover collapsed, killing at least 21 lives. Rescue operations are still on, and that number could rise.
The timing couldn't have been worse for Banerjee, with state Assembly polls slated to start in less than a week. The first phase starts on April 4 with West Medinipur. The more immediate repercussion of the mishap, however, is likely to felt in the city where elections are on April 21 and 30.
The Left Front is already accusing not just the government but Banerjee personally. Last November, Banerjee had announced that the flyover would be completed by August 2016.
West Bengal Election 2016 : "In an authoritarian regime, no one questions the queen. There was a mad rush to complete the flyover which has caused this tragedy. The Chief Minister should take moral responsibility for this mishap," CPI(M) leader, Mohammed Salim said.
Banerjee, who was campaigning in West Medinipur yesterday, rushed to the site of the accident and promptly started supervising rescue operations, microphone in hand. A makeshift nabanna(state secretariat) was set up some 500 metres from the site, complete with a fax machine. It was important to be seen at the disaster site and Banerjee stayed till late into the night.
She had already absolved her government's guilt by saying that the flyover contract was given to the Hyderabad-based contractor, IVRCL, in 2009 by the Left Front government. But right now, no one is buying that argument.
The flyover had missed the deadline at least six times with the original deadline being 2011.
According to the contract, Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA), the implementing agency was supposed to supervise each stage, Salim pointed out. "What were they doing when a fault was detected the previous night by the contractors' side," he asked.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress, too, are raising the pitch against Banerjee. The BJP has asked for a CBI investigation. Both the parties have said the construction and collapse reek of corruption.
"The urban development minister has been caught taking bribe in the video so what can we expect? This is under his ministry. Why is it that the contractor has changed the design and the course so many times?" Salim asked.
Banerjee, for her part, is set to take IVRCL to task, with the Kolkata Police filing at least three FIRs against the Hyderabad-based company.
This will not be the first time that Banerjee punished a company for loss of lives in a tragedy. Months after she took charge as Chief Minister, there was a major fire at Emami co-promoted AMRI Hospital that killed 90 people. The Emami promoters were taken into custody immediately which had a widespread repercussion on the Marwari business community that felt discriminated against.
However, most of the directors were granted bail a few months after the incident; the chargesheet was filed in 2012, but the trial is yet to start. The hospital itself was reopened in July 2014, according to media reports.
This time, however, with elections knocking on door, it's a completely ball game.
Till months back, Elections in West Bengal were expected to be a cakewalk for Banerjee. After the Narada incident, however, a ABP Ananda-Nielsen opinion poll has given Trinamool 178 seats in the 294 West Bengal Legislative Assembly, still a majority but lower than the 190 it bagged in 2011. The Left-Congress combine is expected to bag 110 seats while the BJP would remain a marginal player with one seat.
In terms of vote share, the TMC-Congress alliance had got 48% in 2011 while the Left was at 39%; this time, the TMC is expected to get 45 per cent vote share and the Left-Congress close on the heels at 44%, according to the opinion poll.
Banerjee is still slated to win but suddenly calculations on margins of victory are no longer a certainty.
"In 2011, many of the Left Front supporters voted for the Trinamool. This time, many Trinamool supporters may vote for the Left," a Left leader said.
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