West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday accused opposition parties of politicising the Chorbagan Durga Puja stampede instead of standing by the victims and the injured.
Adhikari made this remark during his visit to the residence of Priya Samaddar, one of the 19 victims, in the New Barrackpore area of North 24 Parganas district and handed over Rs 25 lakh as compensation from the state government to her bereaved family.
Nineteen people were killed and 25 injured in a stampede at the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal in north Kolkata on Saturday evening.
Asked about criticism by opposition parties, including the Trinamool Congress, over the government's handling of the situation and police arrangements at the stampede-hit puja pandal, Adhikari questioned their response to the tragedy.
"Which opposition is there? Only the Leader of the Opposition, Ritabrata Banerjee-led faction exists," he said.
Suggesting that the Trinamool Congress and other opposition parties, including the CPI(M), had lost their relevance, Adhikari asked, "Did any such opposition party go to the Kolkata Medical College morgue or the Medical College Hospital after the stampede?" Adhikari said he would visit the residences of all the victims by October 24.
During his visit to the residence of victims Dilip Ghosh and Dipali Ghosh in Baranagar, the chief minister accused the previous Trinamool Congress government of being indifferent to victims of earlier accidents.
"The earlier regime did not rush to the side of victims of previous accidents and showed their indifference. But we are humans and, as the CM, I have to," he told reporters.
On lessons from the stampede, Adhikari said several issues needed to be addressed to prevent such incidents. "This is a festival involving 10 crore people. We have to give priority to human safety," he said.
Adhikari also said the state had 106 police personnel for every one lakh population and assured that allegations of police lapses in connection with the stampede would be investigated.
He said the possibility of a conspiracy, including whether an announcement had triggered the crowd surge, would also be examined.
Responding to questions about the condition of state-run hospitals, Adhikari said his government could not be expected to transform the healthcare system within five months but was committed to improving it.
"It is not our job to change the condition of state hospitals in five months. We had to refer cases to private hospitals, but we are committed to improving the health system," he said.
"The dirt of 49 years -- 34 years of Left rule and 15 years of TMC -- will have to be cleaned up," he added.
Adhikari said the government was working to improve healthcare facilities from Medical College and Hospital to Sagar Dutta Medical College and Hospital. Baranagar BJP MLA Sakal Ghosh was present during the visit.
Adhikari also visited the residences of two other victims - Barnali Halder and Tania Biswas - at New Town Gouranganagar and handed over a Rs 25 lakh cheque to each of the bereaved families.
On Tuesday, Adhikari visited the family of the mother-son duo, Togor Bej (37) and Sandip (14), in Purba Bardhaman district, followed by the family of Piyali Pramanik (25) in Arambagh in Hooghly district. Pramanik was the sister-in-law of Togor Bej.
He also visited the families of Aarti Sarkar (45) in Chakdaha in Nadia district, Sriparna Poddar (26) in Baidyabati in Hooghly district, and Akriti Raut (17) in Liluah in Howrah district.
TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday questioned why BJP leaders holding key posts in the Chorbagan Durga Puja committee had not been arrested after the stampede, and alleged that police have begun a crackdown on those questioning the BJP government's actions.
(With inputs from PTI)